D.A. Hopeful Enright Allowed to Keep Job but Loses Desk in Executive Offices

Last week Dist. Atty. Michael R. Capizzi indicated that he was considering demoting his chief deputy, James G. Enright, who is his rival in a November runoff election. On Monday he decided not to boot Enright from his job--just from the executive offices.

In what both men described as “a mutual agreement,” Enright will trade office space with Capizzi’s top aide, Maurice L. Evans.

That will put Evans in the office adjoining Capizzi. Enright, for the first time in more than 20 years as chief deputy, will move down the hall to an office among the trial deputies. He loses proximity to the top boss, but he gains a window.

Enright and Evans, whose title is chief assistant, each will continue his current duties. Enright is primarily responsible for most of the courtroom work. Evans is in charge of administration and special operations.

“It was a decision I agreed to,” Enright said, “because there’s no sense our being underneath each other’s feet under the circumstances.”

Enright also agreed, at Capizzi’s suggestion, to give up a major death penalty case he was scheduled to try before the election. Defense lawyers in that case had complained that it would be unfair to prospective jurors to face Enright in both the courtroom and the campaign trail.

Enright, given little chance by even his own supporters in last week’s primary because of his late entry into the race, surprised everyone with a strong enough showing in the four-candidate race to force a runoff with Capizzi.

Capizzi and Enright were longtime rivals in the office under former Dist. Atty. Cecil Hicks. When Hicks took the bench in January, the County Board of Supervisors appointed Capizzi, who had been chief assistant, to replace him, with Hicks’ blessing.

Capizzi said last week that he was “seriously thinking” about demoting Enright from chief deputy to supervising assistant. The decision would have nothing to do with the election, Capizzi insisted. Rather, he wanted a chief deputy he was comfortable working with. The five months until the election, Capizzi said, would be too much time for the office to operate efficiently under the awkward situation that existed.

While Capizzi and Enright respect each other’s talents as prosecutors, their relationship has soured over the years as their rivalry grew. Yet, since Capizzi’s appointment six months ago, when he moved into Hicks’ office, the two rivals have shared a secretary and an office suite.

Enright left for a short vacation after the primary and wondered aloud if he would have the same job when he returned Monday morning. Late in the morning, Capizzi and Enright met for the first time to discuss his future in the office.

“Maury Evans is my right-hand man, the person I depend on,” Capizzi said. “I need him here at the command center so that things can run smoothly any time I’m not around.”

Neither Capizzi nor Enright said he viewed the change as a compromise. But in the end, Enright got to keep his job until the November election decides who will be district attorney for the next four years.

As part of the agreement, Enright will turn over the “Corvette” slaying case to another prosecutor. More than likely, both Capizzi and Enright said, that will be Bryan F. Brown, the chief supervisor for the homicide panel.

Prosecutors are seeking the death penalty against Robert Clarence Taylor, 28, and Norman James DeWitt, 35, who are accused of killing an elderly Anaheim woman after they and a third defendant, Nanette Scheid, 29, answered her husband’s advertisement two years ago to sell his Corvette. Scheid may be tried separately.