Witness Says She Saw Prosecutor Harassed : Van Nuys: A former clerk testifies that a supervisor in the D.A.’s office fondled a woman lawyer who later was fired.

A former law clerk testified at a Civil Service hearing Wednesday that a male supervisor in the district attorney’s Van Nuys office sexually harassed a female prosecutor, repeatedly fondling and hugging her and joking about having sex with her.

Deborah Tobias, who worked in the office for four months in 1989, appeared at a Civil Service hearing on behalf of former Deputy Dist. Atty. Colette L. Facio, who says she lost her job as a result of sexual harassment by her supervisor, Deputy Dist. Atty. Andrew W. Diamond.

Diamond has denied harassing Facio, terming the accusations “hogwash.”

Tobias, now a lawyer in private practice, testified that “every day it was something from Andy--a hand on her knee, an arm around the shoulder that was too personal.”

At least four times, Tobias said, Diamond gave Facio what he called a “melon press,” a vigorous frontal hug in which he pressed up “against her breasts . . . he was always talking about her large breasts.”

Tobias also said that several times she witnessed Diamond approach Facio from behind and “thrust up against her like they were having sex.”

Another witness, Los Angeles Police Detective Patrick Green, said Wednesday that on one occasion, as Facio passed them outside a Van Nuys courtroom, Diamond said he would like to have sex with her “loud enough so she could hear, although she did not react.”

Facio, who was fired in January by Dist. Atty. Ira Reiner on grounds of “unprofessional conduct and incompetence,” also has charged that Reiner and other top officials in his office knew of her accusations against Diamond and did nothing about them.

The district attorney’s office contends that the harassment charges are “baseless” and were lodged by Facio only after she was told that she might be fired.

Reiner’s office says Facio was fired “in response to complaints from six judges” about her courtroom behavior and because of unexplained absences, abusive behavior to clerks, failure to prepare cases, shouting and arguing with bailiffs and mistreatment of witnesses, especially men.

At the hearing in the county Hall of Administration, Facio is disputing many of the charges, which were listed in her 11-page termination letter.

She conceded she was “sometimes argumentative and contentious” but said she had been so traumatized by sexual harassment that she had trouble doing her job.

Lawyers, judges and police officers testifying at the hearing, which began last month and is to end Friday, have provided an assessment of Diamond sharply at odds with Facio’s and Tobias’.

Colleagues described Diamond as a clever, raucous, crude and well-regarded prosecutor who is popular with judges, police officers and fellow lawyers.

Deputy Dist. Atty. Marissa N. Batt, who a decade ago filed a lawsuit that she said opened the way for promotion of women prosecutors, testified that most colleagues are “very much amused by him,” adding, “I don’t see how anyone could be offended by Andy.”

Batt acknowledged that Diamond sometimes told “off-color jokes” but said that is common practice for both male and female trial lawyers.

But Tobias, who was Facio’s clerk in the summer of 1989, when the former prosecutor alleges that she was pressured for sex and fondled repeatedly by Diamond, termed the veteran prosecutor “cruel and offensive.”

She said that although Facio resisted every advance by Diamond, often walking away from him, Diamond would not let up. “He seemed to enjoy the fact that he could push her buttons and there was nothing she could do about it,” Tobias said.

Tobias also said that in the summer of 1989 Facio reportedly complained to David R. Disco, who headed the Van Nuys prosecutors’ office at the time, about sexual harassment by Diamond, but nothing came of the complaint.

Disco testified earlier Wednesday that Facio never accused Diamond of lewd or harassing behavior until efforts began in December, 1989, to fire her. He said that he began the move to fire Facio after complaints from many judges, including at least four who had barred her from their courtrooms.

Seven judges have testified against Facio at the hearing, making the same complaints cited in her termination letter.