Umberg Ties Club Killing to ‘Lax Policy’ : Politics: Attorney general candidate blames Morgan parole on Wilson ‘quota system.’ Correction officials dispute claim.

Assemblyman Tom Umberg (D-Garden Grove) on Friday used the slaying of a 23-year-old Huntington Beach woman to assail Gov. Pete Wilson for a “relaxed parole policy” that he said discourages sending parolees back to prison for drug violations.

Umberg, the Democratic candidate for attorney general, made his charges at an afternoon news conference held in front of the Australian Beach Club, across the street from the parking lot where Leanora Annette Wong was found savagely beaten to death last week.

Edward Patrick Morgan Jr., who had met Wong at the nightclub, was arrested in connection with her murder on May 23 in Quincy following a statewide search. He had tested positive for drug use several days before Wong was slain, but results were not known by authorities until after her death.

“This young woman did not have to die,” said Umberg, who said the Huntington Beach woman was a casualty of an “unwritten policy” that he said has been quietly enacted and has resulted in parole violators being released for all but the most serious of violations.

The assemblyman’s charges were disputed Friday by state correction officials who said Umberg is “manipulating facts” for political gain.

Umberg, describing it as a “quota system,” said the policy has resulted in a dramatic drop in the percentage of parole violators returned to custody--from 67% in 1990 to 39% in 1993. He also said that the drug testing of parolees is discouraged.

“This policy is successful at one thing: saving money. But at what cost in human tragedy?” asked Umberg.

The assemblyman’s comments drew criticism from corrections officials.

“There is no quota system that we have for revocation,” said J.P. Tremblay, spokesman for the state’s Youth and Adult Correction Agency, which oversees the Department of Corrections.

“It just doesn’t happen,” Tremblay added. “Umberg is trying to use the unfortunate death of Leanora Wong to advance his message.”

The spokesman disputed Umberg’s figures and said that the percentage of parole violators returned to custody in 1990 was 57.1%. He said the drop to 39% in 1993 is largely due to the fact that some parole violators are sent back to county jails instead of state prison for parole violations.

Morgan, arrested on May 23, tested positive for cocaine on May 10 and the results were completed by May 17. Morgan’s parole officer did not have evidence that he had violated the terms of his parole by using drugs until authorities were already searching for him in connection with Wong’s slaying, corrections officials said.

Tremblay said Morgan’s parole would have been revoked after the recent urine test and that he would have been sent back to prison because of his history of violent crime.

But Umberg contends that even if Morgan’s failed drug test had been delivered in time, “the decision still would have been made to continue him on parole--not to revoke.”

Umberg’s brief comments were met with criticism from a small group of protesters, including Thomas G. Reinecke, a candidate in the June 7 primary race for the 70th Assembly District seat and Placentia Police Chief Manuel Ortega.