Investigators Seek 50 Cited for Camping : Homelessness: Long arm of the law holds an olive branch in the form of dropped charges for any who will do one day of community service. But many can’t be found.

SANTA ANA — They’ve been stopping by shelters and soup kitchens, calling hospitals and going out of their way to drive by certain parking lots and street corners, looking for 50 homeless men and women.

A handful of investigators and attorneys have been searching in recent weeks for the men and women because they could wipe away citations they received two years ago for allegedly camping illegally in the Civic Center.

In return for eight hours of community service, the citations could be dismissed in an unusual arrangement negotiated in Municipal Court last month to spare costly trials.

The step is the latest in the saga stemming from Santa Ana’s controversial anti-camping ordinance, which recently withstood a legal challenge before the California Supreme Court.

As an Aug. 3 deadline approaches for the defendants to complete their one day each of picking up trash in the Civic Center--or of any other type of service they can manage--those involved in the search say the main challenge is not getting their clients to accept the arrangement but finding them in the first place.

Many have moved away. Some are in jail. Others just don’t want to be found.

“They’re not easy to reach unless you happen to see them,” said Deputy Public Defender Jim Merwin, who has been on the lookout in Santa Ana for several the 10 defendants his office is representing.

Many private attorneys representing homeless clients for no fees are being helped in the search by the Legal Aid Society of Orange County.

Jere Witter, a part-time investigator with Legal Aid who knows the homeless as well as anyone locally, has been focusing on the downtown meal line run by the Orange County Catholic Worker.

“I found probably 20 people so far by going to the feedings and by passing the word,” Witter said. “I give them their attorney’s number and a couple of quarters. It always takes a couple calls to reach an attorney.”

Attorneys say some of their clients have been picking up the phone and calling.

One woman has already completed her community service, getting credit for volunteer work she had racked up before the arrangement by pulling weeds at a Laguna Beach park. At least three others, including one man who read about the arrangement in a newspaper and called his lawyer, have said they will accept the offer. One, found in a convalescent hospital, is so severely disabled that his lawyer will ask that his case be dismissed.

“Those with the ability to do so who are still around seem to agree they have some obligation to maintain the Civic Center and they are willing to do so,” said Brett Williamson, an attorney with O’Melveny & Myers.

The arrangement is not for everyone.

One 35-year-old defendant, Patrick Egan, said he has no intention of doing community service because he believes the 1992 Santa Ana anti-camping ordinance is unconstitutional, despite the fact that it was upheld by the California Supreme Court in April.

“I see what government is trying to do,” he said. “Take more control.”

The decision, the first on a homeless ordinance by any state supreme court, gave city officials across California a strong boost in their efforts to regulate people who live on the streets. The Santa Ana law makes it a crime punishable by up to six months in jail to use a sleeping bag or blanket or to store personal items on public sidewalks, streets and parking lots and government malls.

Santa Ana officials say the ordinance has been effective, and City Atty. Edward J. Cooper said he is not aware of any new citations issued since the April court ruling.

Meanwhile, officials set pretrial hearings before Santa Ana Municipal Judge Gregory H. Lewis to decide how to handle the pending cases amid the backdrop of the county’s financial crisis.

Defense attorney Heide Mueller came up with the community service option during a pretrial hearing in which the defense team indicated it would cost the county $25,000 for expert witnesses to prepare for the trials.

“It would save everyone a lot of money and hassle,” said Mueller, who has two clients, one whom she is hoping to find by calling local hospitals. “And no jury really wants to convict these people of anything.”

After the arrangement was accepted, the defense withdrew its request for the $25,000 for expert witnesses. Lewis at the time called the arrangement one that could spare the county a “heavy burden.”

The district attorney’s office has said the agreement will not apply to any future camping citations.

Attorneys said they expect some among the homeless who can be found to decline the offer and take their cases to court. Defense attorneys have argued that their homeless clients were merely sleeping outdoors by necessity, not camping.

The defense attorneys and prosecutors will meet with Lewis soon after the community service deadline to decide what to do next with the defendants who declined the offer or couldn’t be found.

“We do the best we can at each stage, then we look at the next stage,” said defense attorney Cathy L. Jensen.

Meanwhile the search continues.

Officials with the Volunteer Center of Greater Orange County, which works with the court to find community service assignments for defendants, said it’s not unusual to see people waiting until the last minute to satisfy their requirements.

Said center spokeswoman Jeanette Wood: “I imagine most of them will come through for us in the last few days.”