POLITICAL AFTER REINER : Prosecutors Caught Flat-Footed by D.A. : Reaction: ‘Amazing’ grapevine in Criminal Courts Building did not work as Reiner surprised his staff with his decision to abandon his reelection campaign.

Fridays at the Criminal Courts Building in downtown Los Angeles are usually quiet as the weeklong pace of trials winds down. Many courtrooms are dark, trials are recessed, and by afternoon prosecutors who were busy filing and arguing motions during the morning are back at their desks preparing for the next week.

But the building was anything but quiet Friday as the most surprising announcement in years--Dist. Atty. Ira Reiner’s decision to drop out of the campaign to keep his post--echoed through hallways and courtrooms.

By most accounts, the announcement dominated conversation among the rank-and-file prosecutors who spend their days plotting strategy for criminal trials rather than political races.

Most prosecutors had been preparing for a knock-down fight between their boss and challenger Gilbert Garcetti, a deputy district attorney. They would walk a neutral line to avoid jeopardizing their careers no matter who won.

“It just came out of left field,” one prosecutor said of Reiner’s announcement. “Whether you were for or against him, it came out of the blue. We were ready for this fight. It didn’t happen.”

As veteran prosecutor Lonnie A. Felker put it, “I think most people here think that Ira’s announcement just allows for the inevitable to happen quicker and without a bitter fight or the divisiveness that would put the office in the middle.

“But, oh man, it was a shock from the standpoint that it hadn’t leaked out and it’s such an unusual move,” Felker added. “This place has an amazing grapevine but nobody knew until they picked up the newspaper.”

After the news, discussion and inevitable speculation spread through the 18th-floor offices of the district attorney, it was quickly back to business as usual, some prosecutors said.

“It was the first topic of discussion but that lasted five minutes, then we moved on,” Deputy Dist. Atty. Dan Feldstern said.

Still, as Reiner spent the day discussing his decision in a blaze of television lights and media interviews, small groups of prosecutors gathered in hallways and offices to discuss the imminent changing of the guard.

At one point a group of secretaries joked with passing prosecutors, facetiously announcing promotions they will receive under the new regime. But most front-line prosecutors said they expect little change in their ranks. Few expressed fears that Garcetti, a career prosecutor, would make wholesale changes below the administration level.

“I don’t think he will topple everything,” said Felker, who has been a prosecutor for 20 years under five district attorneys.

“He is an insider,” Felker said of Garcetti. “He knows the office already and I don’t think he’ll do anything to disrupt it.”

But most prosecutors said that changes at high levels are almost sure to happen.

“People right at the top have to be worried about their future,” said one prosecutor. “When you come in as the new D. A. you want everybody to think they owe their job to you.”

Others said that Friday was the day when they could tell whether prosecutors supported a candidate, and which one it was, by the smile or stunned look on their faces.

“I am disappointed,” said one prosecutor who handles top-priority murder cases and had enjoyed working for Reiner.

“He had political problems but as a prosecutor I believe he did a good job,” this prosecutor said. “I am disappointed to see him go.”

The leadership of the agency aside, many said that a more pressing issue for them was the county’s budgetary crisis, which may result in as many as 125 prosecutors being laid off.

“Most people here aren’t worried whether it’s Reiner out and Garcetti in and how we will function under which one,” said one prosecutor. “We are more concerned with how this office will function without 125 people.”