Public Defender’s Story Is More Than a Sidebar

Ronald Y. Butler soon marks his 15th anniversary as this county’s public defender. He almost got the boot his first year.

Butler’s staff got a murder defendant to clam up before his office was appointed to represent the man. The supervisors clearly sided with Sheriff Brad Gates’ angry complaint about it. So they set up a blue-ribbon commission of judges and lawyers to determine if Butler was simply too aggressive in defending the local indigent. Surprise: The commission wound up siding with Butler--and praising him lavishly for style and guts--for doing what he was supposed to do.

Still, Butler has never been a favorite of the supervisors. He’s that rare department head who has steadfastly refused to sign a contract agreeing to serve at the board’s pleasure--conflict of interest, he says, for a public defender. It has cost him thousands in salary increases over the years. He’s not even the highest paid in his own office.

“Comments about it have ranged from ‘dumb’ to ‘admirable,’ ” Butler says smiling.

Butler, who’d been a deputy public defender since 1968, told me on the day of his appointment in 1981 that he loved the office because “This is where the action is.” He hasn’t changed his mind.

Following quintuple bypass surgery last year--and a goodbye to cigarettes and alcohol--Butler, 61, looks healthier and more ready for battle than ever, his friends say. He’s already outlasted all those supervisors who doubted him.

Namedrops: When Second Lady Tipper Gore’s office released her schedule for her Southland trip, included was a stop Wednesday in “Santa Ana Beach.” They wish. . . .

Freddy Fender and former Sir Douglas Quintet members are stars of the Tex-Mex group the Texas Tornados. But when they appear at the Galaxy Concert Theatre in Santa Ana on Friday night, most fans will go to hear their accordionist, Flaco Jiminez. He’s up for two Grammys Feb. 28. . . .

You thought Bush was someone named George? Bush is the hot alternative rock group from England, headlining March 12 at the Pond of Anaheim.

I was in the “cattle corral” of hundreds last Saturday when Bush tickets went on sale. High credit to the Pond for organizing the impatient crowd, by random number, into orderly ticket lines. The key was plenty of staff. The tickets were for my 13-year-old, Patrick, who marks events in his life from concert to concert. When I think of Bush, I still think of George. . . .

Ivy League Campaign: Following the Iowa caucuses, media listings showed all of the nine Republican candidates would campaign in New Hampshire on Tuesday, with one exception: Garden Grove Congressman Robert K. Dornan was scheduled to be at Harvard University in Massachusetts that day. Harvard?

Campaign manager Terri Cobban explains that Dornan wanted to fulfill a previously delayed commitment to meet with members of Harvard’s Young Republicans Club. However, because bad weather slowed down his drive from Washington--he was only stopping en route to New Hampshire--Dornan never made it to any ivy-covered halls. But he did talk to the students by conference call. . . .

Dornan will have to do better in New Hampshire than just double his Iowa vote total (131) to come out its top Orange County presidential candidate. Featherweight Democratic hopeful Larry Agran, former Irvine mayor, got 332 votes there in 1992.

Keep Listening: I usually groan at cutesy acronyms, but here’s an attention grabber: the local chapter of Self Help for Hard of Hearing People--which comes out “SHHH.” Its state convention is Friday and Saturday at the Sheraton Anaheim Hotel.

“So many people are in denial about hearing loss,” says spokeswoman Judy Goffin. “This group’s message is, ‘We’re here. Help is available.’ ” Headliner will be hearing-impaired comic Kathy Butler. . . .

Happy Headache: I can’t picture John Wilkes Booth or Squeaky Fromme as gist for a musical, but then, I don’t have Stephen Sondheim’s imagination.

Cypress College had a successful run with Sondheim’s musical “Assassins” last spring, then went on to other endeavors. Now, unexpectedly, it’s back.

Cypress learned a few weeks ago its “Assassins” beat out 170 other productions for regional competition at Flagstaff, Ariz.--next Wednesday. It’s Round One of the prestigious Kennedy Center/American College Theater Festival.

“We’ve been scrambling like crazy,” says Cypress’ theater chair Kaleta Brown.

Proceeds from Friday and Saturday night performances of the musical on campus (tickets $10) will go toward financing the Arizona trip. Brown’s taking three trucks of sets and equipment and 70 people--counting actors, musicians, faculty and staff.

Wrap-Up: In my business, most of your embarrassing moments stem from not doing your homework. One of my favorite stories comes out of that Ron Butler appointment.

Butler was replacing longtime Public Defender Frank Williams. A reporter (from another newspaper) asked Butler in a hard-nosed journalistic tone: “Just what was the real reason behind Williams leaving the office?”

Butler looked bewildered but managed a dignified reply: “Well, uh, he died.”

Reporters usually find a way to get the last word. Said the questioner, nodding his head, “I wondered if that was it.”