Arrest of Paralegals Fuels Battle Over Welfare Aid : Social services: Legal Aid workers say they are impeded in assisting the poor at county offices. Officials say the advocates exceed their rights.

The arrest of two Legal Aid Foundation paralegals by county law enforcement officers has brought more acrimony to a three-year battle over how much help legal advocates can give the poor who are seeking welfare aid.

Legal Aid lawyers contend that the arrests--made in February in the Echo Park welfare office--violated a 1989 court order protecting the rights of Legal Aid to be in welfare offices helping the poor. In documents filed by Legal Aid in support of a civil contempt complaint, it is alleged that paralegals were handcuffed, roughed up and illegally detained.

County attorneys argue that the paralegals had exceeded their court-protected rights and deny that members of Los Angeles County Safety Police employed excessive force in making the arrests. The officers are part of a little-known force that guards welfare offices and other county buildings; they carry guns and have the power to make arrests.

A hearing on the contempt allegations is set for April 15 in Superior Court. While opposing attorneys are attempting to negotiate a settlement in the controversy, neither side appears ready to give ground.

The controversy is but the latest flare-up in a long-running fight. Legal Aid and the city of Los Angeles have sued the county, contending that welfare officials wrongly reject the applications of thousands of indigents who are qualified for general relief.

To help guide indigents through county bureaucracy, Legal Aid, the Los Angeles County Bar Assn. and other groups have been sending counselors and law students into welfare offices to act as advocates.

From the outset, the advocacy program was controversial. While agreeing that Legal Aid workers could help the poor fill out forms, the county opposed vigorous advocacy on behalf of welfare applicants. And in late 1988, welfare officials barred legal advocates from the waiting room because they were gathering interviews supporting the lawsuits against the county, records show.

“The county was playing legal hardball, fighting everything we did,” said Legal Aid attorney Gary Blasi. In January, 1989, Blasi obtained a court order protecting the rights of lawyers and paralegals to continue their advocacy in welfare waiting rooms.

That seemed to settle the issue. Then in February, safety police arrested paralegals Brad Stevens, 40, and Rob Leonard, 32, in the Echo Park office.

Stevens, arrested Feb 8, was charged with trespassing, a misdemeanor. He said he was attempting to secure help for a distraught, mentally ill man. Law students who witnessed the arrest said Stevens was verbally and physically accosted by officers who ordered him to leave. When Stevens refused, he was pushed by police, then dragged off to a back room, these witnesses said.

Legal Aid lawyers protested Stevens’ arrest, telling county officials the paralegal’s actions were protected by court order.

Leonard was arrested two weeks later in the same office. Witnesses said Leonard was knocked to the floor by three officers, handcuffed and dragged off to a back room.

At the time of his arrest, Leonard said, he was handing out leaflets protesting Stevens’ arrest.

Safety Police Chief Leo P. Gonzalez would not be interviewed on the cases because of the pending contempt of court action filed by Legal Aid. But he did say, “There are always two sides to every story.”

Deputy County Counsel J. Patrick Joyce said the police had probable cause to arrest both paralegals.