Garcetti Decries Possible Budget Cuts : Crime: District attorney says he would have to lay off lawyers and stop prosecuting misdemeanor cases.

Facing a possible budget cut of $39 million, Los Angeles County Dist. Atty. Gil Garcetti says he may have to lay off up to 359 prosecutors--about 40% of his lawyers--and halt prosecutions of misdemeanor crimes such as drunk driving, petty theft and domestic assault.

Garcetti said Tuesday that he has been asked to assess the impact of a budget cut that could be either 8% or 25%.

“An 8% cut translates to 157 lawyers,” he said, out of a total of about 900 prosecutors. “That would decimate us. That means we’re out of municipal courts. We will not handle misdemeanors.”

County prosecutors handle misdemeanors--crimes punishable by up to one year in jail and a $1,000 fine--for the unincorporated areas of the county and cities that do not have prosecutors of their own. Each year, his office handles about 300,000 such cases, which also include lewd conduct, indecent exposure and battery, Garcetti said.

Prosecutions of juveniles also would be severely limited, Garcetti said. “Last year we handled about 27,000 juvenile matters. Approximately one-third were misdemeanors, one-third were nonviolent felonies and one-third were violent felonies. We would be handling the violent felonies only.”

Garcetti’s projections were prompted by new county estimates last week of a budget shortfall exceeding $1.1 billion, higher than previously anticipated. As a result, county fiscal officers proposed 25% reductions in health, welfare and other county services.

Garcetti said he met with his supervisorial staff Monday night and discussed the impact of possible cuts.

A 25% cut would be “ridiculous,” he said, and would involve “closing every office outside of downtown Los Angeles, laying off 359 deputy district attorneys and a support staff of another 130 to 140 investigators and clerical staff.” The Compton branch could stay open, Garcetti said, but those in Pomona, Long Beach, Inglewood, West Covina, Van Nuys, Beverly Hills and Santa Monica would not.

“It would be impossible to do our job” with a 25% cut, Garcetti said.

Should such cuts be necessary, prosecutors would have to focus on the more serious felony crimes, such as robbery and murder, Garcetti said, explaining: “I have to zero in on violent crime.”

Not prosecuting misdemeanors would mean that judges would have to dismiss cases for lack of attorneys to prosecute, or appoint special prosectors at county expense, Garcetti said. “The attorney general’s office has already informed me they cannot step in and assist.”

Dave Puglia, spokesman for the state attorney general’s office, confirmed what Garcetti said. “We can’t. We don’t have the resources.”

“It would be a terrible impact on the community if they were cut back in any way,” said Nancy Walker, spokeswoman for the city of Lancaster in the Antelope Valley, where the district attorney prosecutes criminal offenses and code enforcement violations. “We actually need expanded services.”

Garcetti said he plans to lobby county supervisors and state officials and go before the public to try to head off the cuts. “I’m hoping the board and others will see it’s going to wind up costing the county more money if the judges appoint special prosecutors. . . ,” he said. “I can’t function with a cut of 8%. I can’t function with a cut of 4%. We just cannot handle the cases.”