Singer Asks to Remain in Rehab Center : Courts: Rick James wants to undergo drug treatment. Inquiry on allegations of misconduct related to his prosecution is sent to attorney general.

After two committees recommended that he be tossed out, funk singer Rick James has asked the warden of the California Rehabilitation Center to let him stay and undergo drug treatment instead of serving a prison sentence.

James, an admitted cocaine addict who was convicted of assaulting two women during drug binges, is fighting for admission to a nine-month program, said defense attorney Mark J. Werksman.

Meanwhile, officials in the district attorney’s office said an internal investigation into allegations of misconduct related to James’ prosecution has been referred to the California attorney general’s office.

In a plea bargain prompted by the misconduct allegations, everyone involved in the James case agreed that he could serve time at the rehabilitation center in Norco.

Van Nuys Superior Court Judge Michael R. Hoff stayed a prison term so the self-proclaimed King of Funk could receive treatment for his addiction.

James was sent to the center in January and has received treatment, Werksman said. But two committees that evaluate convicted felons to determine if treatment will help have denied his formal admission to the program.

Werksman has appealed the rulings to Warden Jean E. Anderson.

“We expect the warden to do the right thing,” he said, adding that he has not seen reports documenting the committee’s decisions, but he knows that James has performed well for the past three months.

“He’s in good spirits,” Werksman said. “He’s clean and sober.”

If James is ultimately turned down by officials, Judge Hoff would conduct another hearing to determine if James will be sent to prison for the full five-year, four-month sentence.

This prison sentence was stayed primarily because of the investigation into wrongdoing by an investigator in the district attorney’s office. The investigator did not work on the case, but he had possibly inappropriate conduct with a woman who testified against James at a trial last fall, sources have said.

The investigator may have provided contraband to Michelle Allen, a prosecution witness intended to show that James had a habit of abusing women, the sources said.

The investigator left the district attorney’s office Feb. 24, said Dist. Atty. spokeswoman Sandi Gibbons.

“The internal investigation done by the district attorney’s Bureau of Investigations, Internal Affairs Division, has been completed,” Gibbons said, “and the results of that internal investigation have been turned over to the state’s attorney general’s office.”

A spokeswoman with the attorney general’s office would not comment on the inquiry, declining even to confirm that the office was looking at the case.

Gibbons said that internal investigations are often kept within the office, culminating with the disciplining of the offending employee.

“Matters involving further review are often sent to the attorney general’s office because the district attorney’s office cannot prosecute their own employees,” Gibbons said.