D.A.’s Handling of Case Becomes Election Issue

County prosecutors reduced “three strikes” charges against the grandson of a man who donated about $13,000 to the 1992 election campaign of Dist. Atty. Gil Garcetti--a reduction that meant 16 months in state prison instead of life behind bars.

But Garcetti’s spokeswoman and the deputy who actually handled the case said Tuesday there was no connection between the campaign contribution and the outcome of the case against Brian John McMorrow.

“There was never any order, any suggestion from above that any kind of leniency be shown in this case,” Deputy Dist. Atty. James Falco said.

A two-time convicted robber, McMorrow was charged with attempted arson for pouring gasoline on the vehicles of two men with whom he had a business dispute. Ultimately, he pleaded no contest to the lesser charge of attempted vandalism, according to court records.

That outcome--and the way it came about--emerged Tuesday as a politically charged issue in the March 26 primary, in which the well-financed Garcetti is running for reelection against five challengers widely viewed as underfunded underdogs.

Although demanding anonymity, at least one of Garcetti’s challengers was eager to provide details of the case to reporters--asserting that the case created the appearance that campaign donors were entitled to special access to the district attorney and then to uncalled-for leniency in court.

Among the challengers, Harold Greenberg called the 16-month sentence “unconscionable.” Another, John F. Lynch, called it “inexplicable.”

Herb Lapin, president of the nonunion Assn. of Deputy Dist. Attys. and a frequent critic of Garcetti, said “the bad part here” is justifying the office’s “hard-nosed positions” in other “three strikes” cases. The 1994 law provides for a sentence of life in prison for a third felony conviction.

“As [various deputy] public defenders have said,” according to Lapin, “how come my poor . . . defendant who can’t afford to contribute can’t get that kind of deal?”

Calls to Garcetti were referred to his spokeswoman, Suzanne Childs, who said that McMorrow’s deal was hardly exceptional.

She asserted that about 40% of the “three strikes” cases filed in Los Angeles County are resolved as McMorrow’s was, with a prior “strike” being stricken--to avoid the punishment of life in prison.

Under an office policy in force virtually since the law took effect, Childs said, head deputies have the discretion to decide whether to strike a “strike.”

That policy--according to Childs and Falco, the deputy who handled the case--was followed in McMorrow’s case.

McMorrow was convicted in March 1983, when he was 19, of two counts of robbery.

Last June 14, he was recorded on videotape pouring gasoline on a pickup truck and a sports car, court records indicate.

The vehicles belonged to James Uzueta and Steve Cornie, who worked with McMorrow in a plumbing business. McMorrow had been involved in a long-running dispute with them, according to court files.

After pouring gas on the vehicles, McMorrow walked away. He did not light a match.

Prosecutors charged McMorrow with attempted arson.

Sometime later, McMorrow’s grandfather, Westside businessman B.J. McMorrow, called Garcetti. McMorrow declined Tuesday to return a phone call but told KCBS-TV Channel 2 that he “asked [Garcetti] to check on the charges.”

Asked Tuesday whether anyone would have such access to Garcetti, Childs said, “He accepts calls from people he knows.”

According to campaign records, H & M Enterprises, a business in which B.J. McMorrow is a partner, donated $10,000 cash to Garcetti’s 1992 campaign. During that campaign, McMorrow also contributed $3,199 in office space and parking at a Westside office building.

After the call from the elder McMorrow, Garcetti asked Assistant Dist. Atty. Frank E. Sundstedt, his No. 3 deputy, to “find out what it was all about,” Childs said. Sundstedt was unavailable for comment Tuesday.

Childs said Garcetti called the elder McMorrow and said there was “nothing that he would or could do.”