SANTA ANA : City Dealt Setback on Homeless Sweeps

A judge disqualified the city attorney’s office Monday from prosecuting 22 homeless people who were charged with such minor offenses as littering and jaywalking during controversial police sweeps at the Civic Center in August.

Municipal Court Judge Barbara T. Nomoto agreed with defense lawyers that city prosecutors had a conflict of interest because they also advise and represent Santa Ana police.

Nomoto’s ruling means that the district attorney or the state attorney general will have to step in if the cases are to proceed. A spokesman for Dist. Atty. Michael R. Capizzi said prosecutors have not decided whether to accept the cases.

“The city attorney plays prosecutor on the one hand and counsels the police department on the other,” Deputy Public Defender Paul T. DeQuattro said. “As prosecutors, they no longer represent just the state of California. They are in an adversarial position.”

But Deputy City Atty. Charles H. Smith disagreed.

“I would have handled the cases the same way as any other,” Smith said. “I don’t pass out favors or prosecute the cases harder just because the defendants might have something against the city.”

Deputy City Atty. Duane Bennett, legal adviser to the police, said motions to remove city prosecutors are rare.

The 22 street people accused in the cases are among 90 arrested during two roundups at the Civic Center. Charges ranged from urinating in public to littering and jaywalking. In the first sweep, the homeless were taken to Santa Ana Stadium and chained to bleachers after officers drew numbers on their arms for identification.

The sweeps sparked a class-action suit to halt future police roundups against the homeless. Last month, the city reached a settlement by agreeing not to target homeless people in similar police actions. The agreement emphasized that the Police Department was not liable for actions taken during the sweeps.