State Inquiry of Bradbury Report Sought : Law enforcement: L.A. County Sheriff Sherman Block asks the attorney general to take steps publicly censuring the Ventura County district attorney.

Los Angeles County Sheriff Sherman Block on Friday formally requested a state inquiry into whether Ventura County’s top prosecutor intentionally distorted the truth when criticizing deputies’ conduct in a drug raid that left a Malibu millionaire dead.

In a letter to Atty. Gen. Daniel E. Lungren, Block accuses Ventura County Dist. Atty. Michael D. Bradbury of misconduct for filing an inaccurate report about the raid. He asks that the prosecutor be censured if Lungren’s review confirms the sheriff’s conclusion.

“I believe the district attorney has committed a serious abuse of his powers of office and should be publicly censured,” Blocks says in the letter. “The (Bradbury) report demonstrates an apparent disregard for truth, objectivity and accuracy.”

A spokeswoman for Lungren said the attorney general sometimes conducts “abuse of discretion” reviews of law enforcement officials. But she said Lungren had not received Block’s letter late Friday and will not comment until he has reviewed the request.

Block’s appeal to the attorney general concludes a five-month Sheriff’s Department inquiry into the Oct. 2, 1992, raid that ended when Deputy Gary Spencer fatally shot Donald P. Scott, 61. Authorities found no drugs on the ranch.

Bradbury ruled the shooting was self-defense because Scott, emerging sleepy and drunk from his bedroom, allegedly pointed a pistol at Spencer. But he also concluded that Spencer had lied to get a search warrant and that the raid was prompted in large part by authorities’ desire to seize the millionaire’s $5-million ranch.

Block said Friday that seizing the ranch was only a secondary consideration in the case. And he cleared Spencer of any wrongdoing.

Under federal forfeiture law, police may seize property when land was used to grow or manufacture drugs or the property was purchased with drug money.

In a related development Friday, Spencer filed a legal claim with Ventura County against Bradbury, alleging that the prosecutor had libeled and slandered him in public statements and his March 30 report. A legal claim must be made before a lawsuit can be filed against a public official.

Bradbury, who is ill, has declined comment except to issue a statement saying he stands by his report and is confident its accuracy will be upheld. “It’s unfortunate that (Block) has decided to personally attack this office,” Bradbury said.

Concluding his own six-month review of the Scott case, Bradbury found that the Scott drug raid was not legally justified because of errors and omissions in Spencer’s search warrant affidavit. And he blamed Scott’s death on Block’s department.

Bradbury’s findings have been cited nationwide by critics of federal asset forfeiture laws, who argue that the laws encourage police agencies to conduct questionable raids that could lead to seizures of valuable property.

But Block said at a news conference Friday that he’s convinced that marijuana had been growing on the ranch just days before the raid, and that Bradbury--not his department--is guilty of unethical conduct.

“His report appears to violate every tenet of professional law enforcement investigation,” Block told reporters. Bradbury’s report is filled with errors, false quotations and omissions of facts that would have exonerated law enforcement officers involved in the raid, the sheriff said.

Block maintained that several of Bradbury’s key conclusions are wrong, including a finding that a drug agent could not have seen marijuana plants from a plane flying 1,000 above the ranch. Block quoted representatives of state and federal drug agencies as saying that elevation is ideal for such sightings and that the vast majority of marijuana sightings are made at that height.

Block insisted that Bradbury fashioned his report to suit the national news media’s interest in unjustified seizure of property in drug cases. “He’s never seen a media opportunity he didn’t like,” Block said.

Block noted that Bradbury’s report was released four days before the ABC news magazine ‘20-20’ ran a double-segment on the Scott case that featured Bradbury.

“I believe this was orchestrated for ‘20-20,’ ” Block said.

And the sheriff added in an interview: “I believe his report was prepared for and in keeping with the “20-20” report, rather than in keeping with doing a really proper investigative job. I believe that he saw this as an opportunity for national exposure.”

Both Bradbury and an ABC representative have said that it was the network that was interested in Bradbury’s findings and not the other way around. The network timed its broadcast to the Bradbury report, they said.

Outside the press conference at Block’s headquarters Friday, Scott’s widow picketed with a sign that declared: “Murder Forces Sale of Land for Taxes.” The Scott ranch is up for sale for $7 million. Frances Plante Scott, 39, said the sheriff’s findings represent a cover-up.

“It’s like the fox guarding the hen house,” she said. “It’s all lies. It’s like they’re trying to change their report card from an F to an A.”

Attorney Stephen Yagman, who represents the Scott estate in a federal wrongful-death lawsuit against Block, also criticized the sheriff.

“Sherman Block believes his men do no wrong. And when they do engage in wrongful conduct, he simply closes his eyes,” Yagman said. “When our federal case is decided by a jury, Michael Bradbury’s findings will be completely vindicated and Sherman Block will be disgraced. The evidence clearly supports Mr. Bradbury’s conclusions.”