O.C. Jurors Say They Were Pressured to Drop Probe

Several former Orange County grand jurors said Dist. Atty. Michael R. Capizzi “intimidated” them into dropping a request for an independent counsel to assist in their civil investigation of the county’s unprecedented bankruptcy, according to newly released court transcripts.

Capizzi--and his lieutenants--threatened to impanel a second grand jury to hear the criminal cases if grand jurors pursued their own civil investigation, the grand jurors said.

The allegations appear in transcripts of a closed meeting held Jan. 4 between Superior Court Judge David O. Carter and 14 members of the outgoing grand jury.

According to the transcripts, Carter held the private meeting in his chambers after several grand jurors sought advice from the judge about subpoenas they had received from defense lawyers trying to disqualify Capizzi from prosecuting three elected officials charged by the grand jury with willful misconduct in office.

“I’d venture to say that there was a majority of us that did feel the intimidation, which is part of the reason, I think, why we dropped the [request for a special counsel],” grand juror Laird D. Grant told the judge during the meeting.

Other grand jurors supported Grant’s interpretation, saying they worried about being excluded from considering the criminal aspects of the investigation.

The district’s attorney’s office denied the jurors’ allegations Tuesday. Assistant Dist. Atty. Brent Romney said prosecutors did not want the grand jury to conduct both civil and criminal investigations “because it could taint any subsequent criminal indictment that they issued.”

In December, the grand jury issued a criminal indictment against former budget Director Ronald Rubino and civil willful misconduct accusations against Chairman Roger Stanton and Supervisor William G. Steiner, as well as Auditor-Controller Steve E. Lewis. In May, the same grand jury returned an indictment against former Assistant Treasurer Matthew Raabe.

On Tuesday, Allan Stokke, who represents Steiner, said Capizzi’s threats to the grand jury “looks like an obstruction of justice from the D.A.”