VENTURA : 3 Accused of Fraud All Have Attorneys

More than six weeks after their indictment by the Ventura County grand jury, three men accused of bilking investors out of millions of dollars have retained attorneys.

But arraignment of the suspects--Olen B. Phillips of Thousand Oaks, Charles J. Francoeur of Agoura Hills and Felix Laumann of Cambria--was postponed for the fifth time Monday pending resolution of a key legal issue.

Under Prop. 115, approved by voters last June, suspects indicted by a grand jury usually go directly to trial in Superior Court, without the right to a preliminary hearing in Municipal Court.

The offenses alleged in the fraud indictment, however, occurred before passage of the proposition, and attorneys for the three suspects indicated Monday that they will seek preliminary hearings for their clients.

Tactically, a preliminary hearing gives the defense advantages not available under the grand jury system. The defense can cross-examine witnesses and also put on its own witnesses to try to prove insufficient evidence to warrant a trial.

Deputy Public Defender John H. Voigtsberger, representing Laumann, has already asked Superior Court Judge Allan L. Steele to send the case to preliminary hearing.

Steele postponed arraignment and scheduled a hearing on the motion for Friday.

Attorneys for Phillips and Francoeur, meanwhile, obtained a three-week arraignment delay pending a state Supreme Court ruling on the preliminary-hearing issue.

The justices are expected to announce their decision by April 10.

Steele appointed Steven D. Powell to represent Phillips and William C. Maxwell to handle Francoeur’s defense. Powell and Maxwell are members of Conflict Defense Associates, a group of private attorneys under contract with the county.

CDA represents clients in cases where the public defender’s office might have a conflict of interest.

The public defender’s office determined that all three men lack sufficient funds to retain private counsel.