Honig Convicted on All Counts in Conflict Trial : Education: Schools chief, found guilty of helping wife’s firm, is suspended from office, faces 5-year term.

In a stunningly quick decision after three weeks of testimony, a Superior Court jury found public schools chief Bill Honig guilty Friday on all four felony counts in his conflict-of-interest trial.

Honig, who faces up to five years in prison and loss of his office as superintendent of public instruction, remains free on his own recognizance pending a sentencing hearing Feb. 26.

Honig said he would appeal the verdict.

By law, Honig is now suspended from office. He will be removed from office when he is sentenced. A successor will be appointed by Gov. Pete Wilson to serve the remainder of Honig’s term, which runs through 1994.

In the courtroom, some of his supporters broke into sobs as Court Clerk Millie Jeffcoat read the guilty verdicts for each of the four counts. Honig showed no emotion.

Tall and gaunt and wearing a dark blue suit, gray sweater and gold-rimmed glasses, the seeming picture of an aging scholar, Honig remained unruffled as Judge James L. Long ordered him to report to the county probation office before noon Monday.

Honig was found guilty of authorizing $337,509 in state contracts in the mid- to late-1980s that paid for local educators to set up parent involvement programs in schools in conjunction with a nonprofit organization run by Honig’s wife.

The prosecution charged that the work of the educators allowed the fledgling Quality Education Project to prosper so much that Nancy Honig, as its president, paid herself about $100,000 a year by 1989. Prosecutors also charged that the Honigs benefited by renting office space in their home to QEP.

In testimony during the trial and speaking afterward, Honig remained steadfast that the contracts were proper.

“I’m obviously very shocked by this whole thing,” he said, “because I still don’t think I did anything wrong and we’ll just have to deal with the next steps as they come.”

Patrick Hallinan, Honig’s veteran chief defense attorney, said he was surprised not only by the sweeping guilty verdicts, but by how fast the jury reached its conclusions.

“I find it very, very difficult to believe that the jury reached that conclusion,” said Hallinan, “especially that quickly.”

The jury reached its decision in less than five hours after listening to three weeks of sometimes complex and tedious testimony regarding the history of the contracts.

Honig, a Democratic education reformer who has long been at odds with conservatives, has repeatedly charged that his prosecution was the result of a right-wing cabal.

But the majority of the people who judged him guilty were Democrats. Seven of the jurors were Democrats, three were Republicans and two identified themselves as independents.

Ranging in age from 27 to 63, the jury represented a wide range of occupations and included an insurance underwriter, a sales assistant, a military post exchange supervisor, a pharmacist, a registered nurse, an accounting officer, a retired car salesman, a customer service accountant, a civil engineer, a software engineer, a hospital administrator and a contracts analyst.

The jurors, under escort by a bailiff, avoided the news media after rendering their verdict. However, one member of the panel said in a phone interview that the verdict was not easily reached.

“It was a tough decision,” said Darryl Hayes, 33, a civil engineer. “That’s all I can say.”

Chief Assistant Atty. Gen. George H. Williamson, the lead prosecutor on the case, declined to comment on his victory, but Supervising Deputy Atty. Gen. Cynthia Besemer, who also worked on the case, allowed herself a short exultation.

“After being called part of a right-wing conspiracy,” she said, “I feel vindicated.”

Atty. Gen. Dan Lungren, a conservative Republican, said in a written statement, “Some wanted us to try this case in the press. We refused. Some wanted us to engage in a political debate and respond to vicious attacks on my own integrity. We did not do that. We simply did our job and placed our faith in the jury system.”

Del Weber, president of the California Teachers Assn., remained convinced that Honig was the victim of conservative opponents.

“There is no question he irritated a whole lot of power players in this state by telling them like he thought it was,” said Weber.

In conjunction with the Board of Education, the schools chief develops statewide frameworks for academic curriculum and approves the textbooks used in California schools. The superintendent disburses state funds to local school districts, has the power to order a takeover of financially troubled districts and mediates disputes among districts.

Under Honig, the office has become even more powerful as a bully pulpit on behalf of public schools. Although he ran as a critic and reformer, he became the schools’ biggest defender, a tireless advocate for the institution.

Times staff writers Virginia Ellis, Dan Weintraub and Paul Jacobs in Sacramento contributed to this report.