Court Officially Pulls Curtain on Hedgecock Case : Justice: Following an earlier plea-bargain arrangement, the ex-mayor’s felony conspiracy conviction was reduced to a misdemeanor, and the case was dismissed.

Formally closing the lengthy court saga of former Mayor Roger Hedgecock, a San Diego Superior Court judge Monday reduced Hedgecock’s sole felony conspiracy conviction for political corruption to a misdemeanor, then dismissed the case outright.

Following the script outlined in a plea bargain struck last month, a complex deal crafted to permit face-saving for prosecutors and for Hedgecock, Judge Herbert Exarhos dismissed the charge, officially ending a legal case that had dragged on for six years and through two trials.

Both sides expressed relief and satisfaction Monday that the curtain finally had fallen on the drama. Stemming from illegal donations to Hedgecock’s 1983 mayoral race, the first trial ended in a hung jury, the second resulted in 13 felony convictions but an appeal overturned 12 of the 13--leaving the stage set for the last month’s deal.

“We didn’t break open the Champagne,” Deputy Dist. Atty. Thomas McArdle said Monday after the final hearing. “It’s just another case that’s concluded, and we think a proper conclusion was brought to it.”

Noting that Hedgecock is now a successful radio talk-show host, McArdle added, “We’re glad to have Roger Hedgecock pursuing an honest career, out of government and in the media.”

Hedgecock, who is on vacation out of town, did not appear Monday at the hearing and could not be reached for comment. But his attorney, Charles Sevilla, said simply, “It feels very good.”

“When you look back over the terrain, we started with 13 felonies and a year in custody,” Sevilla said, referring to the one-year jail term to which Hedgecock had been sentenced after his October, 1985, conviction on 13 felony conspiracy and perjury counts. Under the deal, he served no jail time, agreed to pay a $5,000 fine and averted a third trial.

“Today,” Sevilla said, “Roger has a single dismissed misdemeanor. It’s not going to be like him having an albatross over his head, nor will it in any way cloud his future.”

The deal does leave Hedgecock with the misdemeanor conviction on his record, and prosecutors stressed last month that salvaging a conviction meant they were right to persist through two trials. The district attorney’s office agreed Monday, however, not to contest the defense request to dismiss the case because Hedgecock’s three-year probationary period had just ended.

Hedgecock must disclose his misdemeanor record should he be asked about it in any application for public office, if he applies for a state or local license or if he seeks to contract with the California Lottery, according to the plea bargain.

The felony charge could have cost Hedgecock his law license and barred him from running from public office.

Hedgecock has said repeatedly, however, that he does not intend to resume the practice of law or to run again for public office. But, when the deal was announced in November, he stressed that the settlement will “finally clear the slate . . . and let me move on.”

Indicted in September, 1984, Hedgecock’s first criminal trial ended in a mistrial in February, 1985, with the jury deadlocked 11 to 1 in favor of conviction. Eight months later, Hedgecock was found guilty in his second trial of the 13 counts.

The sole conspiracy count alleged that Hedgecock plotted with two former principals of the now-defunct La Jolla investment firm of J. David & Co. to funnel more than $350,000 in illegal donations to his 1983 mayoral campaign.

The 12 perjury counts alleged that Hedgecock intentionally falsified campaign and personal financial disclosure statements to conceal that aid.

Last Sept. 6, the state Supreme Court threw out the 12 perjury convictions and set aside the remaining conspiracy charge pending a hearing on Hedgecock’s claim for a new trial. That claim was based on an allegation that a court bailiff improperly had discussed the case with jurors while they were deliberating.

In its ruling, the Supreme Court said then-Superior Court Judge William L. Todd Jr. erred by ruling that omissions on Hedgecock’s financial statements were sufficient--or, in legal jargon, “material” enough--to support the charges.

Todd also made a mistake, the high court ruled, by not allowing a full-blown hearing on the tampering charges. He decided the issue solely after reading sworn statements submitted by jurors and the bailiff and listening to the competing attorneys’ arguments.

Now a justice on the 4th District Court of Appeal in San Diego, Todd was asked to conduct the new trial hearing by Presiding San Diego Superior Court Judge Judith McConnell.

Because Todd’s own conduct and that of his bailiff were central to the appeal, Sevilla questioned the judge’s ability to be impartial at a new hearing--and prompted Sevilla to begin settlement talks.