D.A. Investigators Search Citron’s Residence Again

A team of 10 investigators from the Orange County district attorney’s office arrived unannounced Thursday at the home of resigned Treasurer-Tax Collector Robert L. Citron armed with search warrants, sources close to the investigation said.

Citron’s attorney, David Wiechert, confirmed that the investigators combed the entire house, snapping photos and collecting documents and cassette tapes before leaving after about 75 minutes. The search warrant also requested computer disks, Wiechert said, adding that Citron does not have a home computer.

Citron’s wife, Terry, was home alone when the investigators arrived, Wiechert said, adding that she was near tears when her husband and attorney returned there.

“I’m absolutely astounded that under the circumstances they would invade Bob and Terry’s home with 10 law enforcement agents,” Wiechert said. “I don’t think there was legitimate law enforcement purpose for this search.”

Investigators had obtained a warrant to search Citron’s former office on Dec. 18 and carted away boxes of records and computers. According to the original search warrant, the probe centers on whether Citron warned investors that the county’s investment fund was losing value.

The affidavits supporting the previous warrant were sealed, but Superior Court Judge Theodore E. Millard agreed to hold a closed hearing today to review the district attorney’s reason for withholding the documents from the public. Lawyers for the Los Angeles Times asked to have the papers unsealed.

Federal securities regulators, the Department of Corporations and the state attorney general’s office are also looking into the failed investment portfolio, along with state and federal legislative panels.

Chief Deputy Dist. Atty. Maury Evans declined to comment on Thursday’s search. Citron also refused to comment.

But Wiechert was clearly irked by the search. He said he was that the district attorney’s office took the combative approach of issuing search warrants because Citron voluntarily produced financial records. He said he also was upset that Citron’s notes from conversations with his attorney were seized, despite Wiechert’s protests that those items should remain confidential.

Dist. Atty. Michael R. Capizzi “has absolute power in determining the fate of Mr. Citron . . . so I’m hard-pressed to be critical,” Wiechert said. “On the other hand, my experience tells me that there is no legitimate basis for their search, and their callous disregard for the attorney-client privilege is, to me, evidence that they are less concerned with individual rights and the sanctity of their investigation and more concerned with reaching a result, what they assume to be a politically correct result.”

The Citrons were “shocked” at the intrusion, Wiechert said.

“After it was over, Terry couldn’t move from the couch,” he said. “You just cannot possibly imagine, after being a county employee for as long as Bob has been a county employee, what it is like for 10 county officers to come in and search your home.”

Times staff writers Eric Lichtblau and Tracy Weber contributed to this report.