Judge Bars Ethics Chief From Case : Courts: Jurist rules that commission director showed a bias against the subjects of a money-laundering inquiry.

In a setback for one of a series of local campaign money-laundering investigations, a Superior Court judge on Friday barred Los Angeles Ethics Commission Executive Director Ben Bycel from participating in a pending case, saying he had shown a bias toward the subjects of the probe.

Judge Diane Wayne, ruling in a lawsuit filed by three people involved in the investigation, found that in a related money-laundering probe Bycel had made “abusive and threatening” comments to attorneys and sought to dissuade a witness from testifying on behalf one of those under investigation.

“Such conduct clearly represents actual bias and irrefutably suggests that Mr. Bycel is not an impartial adjudicator in the matter herein,” the judge’s order said.

Bycel, who declined to comment, has denied the accusations in court papers.

Ethics Commission President Dennis Curtis, a USC law professor, said the judge “was wrong on the law.” He defended Bycel as the “right person for the job,” and “a natural target for anybody who wishes to downgrade the (commission’s) efforts.”

Commission Deputy Director Rebecca Avila said the decision is disappointing. She added that the agency “will continue to press forward with these important political corruption investigations.”

Assistant City Atty. Tony Alperin said city officials have not decided whether to file an appeal.

Specifically, the ruling precludes Bycel from presiding over a pending internal hearing involving three parties, including two relatives of former Los Angeles Councilman Arthur Snyder.

The investigation is part of a series of Southern California money-laundering investigations being conducted jointly by the Ethics Commission and the state Fair Political Practices Commission. Several inquiries have involved relatives and associates of Snyder, now a prominent City Hall lobbyist and political fund-raiser, although the former Eastside councilman has not been accused of any campaign violations and denies any wrongdoing.

The investigations have produced the largest penalty on record for campaign law violations, an $895,000 payment by a shipping firm that was managed locally by Snyder’s brother-in-law.

Friday’s ruling involved a lawsuit brought by Snyder’s sister-in-law Blanche Wu, her husband, Ricky Poon, and an associate, Dominic Ching. Court papers show that they are “subjects of an enforcement proceeding” by the Ethics Commission. Their attorney, Mark Geragos, who also represents Snyder, has said Wu, Poon and Ching have violated no laws.

Geragos characterized Wayne’s decision as a victory. “This substantiates what we’ve said all along. This investigation was driven by a personal vendetta by Ben Bycel. We have judicial confirmation now of what we’ve alleged all along.

“I think it completely stops them in their tracks,” Geragos said of the investigations, including any that might involve Snyder.

But Alperin, the Ethics Commission attorney, said: “We don’t think it does that.”

The ruling applies only to the Wu, Poon and Ching cases, he said, and the ethics agency has three types of enforcement remedies available--criminal prosecution, filing a civil lawsuit to seek penalties or proceeding administratively.

“This ruling only deals with the administrative penalty procedures,” Alperin said.

Wu, Poon and Ching alleged that Bycel had said to an attorney in a related case that he was “going to get” her clients.

Also, USC professor and campaign finance expert Herb Alexander alleged in a court declaration that Bycel had telephoned him “very agitated” because Alexander planned to testify as an expert witness in that case. Alexander said Bycel told him he “should not testify,” became angry and hung up.

In his affidavit, Bycel said statements attributed to him were not true. He said he merely inquired of Alexander, a professional associate of several years, whether he would be testifying as an expert witness.

He also denied hanging up on Alexander, saying his car telephone “blacked out” as it often does and “I saw no reason to redial his number.”