Bar Assn. Joins Fray Over Judge’s Actions : Courts: County group will review whether defendants were denied rights as ACLU alleges. Dist. Atty. Capizzi spurns demand that 3,000 guilty pleas be thrown out.

The Orange County Bar Assn. will review allegations that a Municipal Court judge deprived defendants of their constitutional rights, including prompt access to a defense lawyer during arraignment, bar officials said Thursday.

As the local bar announced the inquiry, Dist. Atty. Michael R. Capizzi chastised the American Civil Liberties Union for asking his office to throw out an estimated 3,000 guilty pleas from those whose rights to counsel might have been violated.

“Shame on you,” Capizzi said in a two-page letter to ACLU attorneys Patricia Herzog and Paul Egly, a retired Los Angeles Superior Court judge.

Capizzi contended that a move to set aside the guilty pleas of those who went before Municipal Court Judge Claude E. Whitney would subject potentially thousands of defendants to additional inconvenience and time off from work to review what the accused “felt was a fair resolution of their cases.”

Capizzi said that if his office nullified guilty pleas without the defendants’ consent, it would preclude prosecutors from hauling them into court again on the same criminal charges because of the double jeopardy clause of the U.S. Constitution.

On Wednesday, the ACLU sent Capizzi a letter demanding that the cases in question be thrown out because of recent allegations that Whitney systematically denied attorneys to many indigent defendants, hence forcing a high rate of guilty pleas to misdemeanors.

The ACLU stated that the district attorney’s office must share the blame for the “railroading” of defendants in Municipal Court in Santa Ana.

“To sum up, your request displays a disappointing unawareness of the legal and ethical considerations accompanying it and is flatly rejected,” wrote Capizzi, adding that he did not condone the violation of constitutional rights.

Neither Capizzi, who released his letter Thursday evening, nor ACLU attorneys could be reached for comment.

Capizzi’s rebuff of the ACLU marks the latest salvo in a bitter controversy involving Judge Whitney, who headed one of the busiest arraignment courts in the county from July to December, 1992.

Last month, the Orange County public defender’s office, which represents those who cannot afford to hire private counsel, filed a formal complaint about Whitney with the Commission on Judicial Performance, a state watchdog agency that investigates allegations of misconduct on the bench.

The public defender’s office, which monitored Whitney’s court for two months, alleged that the judge violated a host of state and federal laws, including access to defense counsel, the right to reasonable bail, and consideration for diversion programs instead of jail.

The complaint to the Judicial Performance Commission was made after the public defender’s office obtained a formal agreement in Superior Court to assure that statutory and constitutional rights would be protected during arraignments in Municipal Court in Santa Ana.

Members of the Orange County Bar Assn. joined the fray Thursday, announcing the creation of a special committee to look into the wide-ranging allegations of wrongdoing by Whitney.

“We have no authority over judges, but I think we have an obligation to determine whether there is a problem going on in the courts, especially if there is a denial of constitutional right for defendants,” said Michelle A. Reinglass, president of the 6,000-member bar organization.

Whitney has declined comment since the controversy began. His boss, Presiding Central Municipal Judge James M. Brooks, has defended Whitney and called the allegations a backlash by defense attorneys who oppose Whitney’s strict sentences.

In his letter to the ACLU, Capizzi said that prosecutors by law cannot assist in the defense of any person accused of a crime. Thus the office could not withdraw the guilty pleas in question.

He also noted that the matter has already been settled with a formal agreement in Superior Court between the public defender’s office and Municipal Court. According to its terms, defendants can withdraw their guilty pleas to misdemeanor charges accepted by Whitney. There is no formal mechanism, however, to notify the defendants who might have been denied their rights.

Capizzi called the ACLU request “misdirected” and said it should have been asked of county Public Defender Ron Butler.

Butler acknowledged Thursday that he had been misinformed when he said in an interview Wednesday that prosecutors appeared at proceedings held before Whitney.

In addition, Whitney is accused of refusing to provide adequate translators for Spanish-speaking individuals, barring deputy public defenders from talking to those being arraigned, and sentencing people to wrong jail terms for their crimes.