Ruling on Misconduct Accusations Due March 25

A Superior Court judge will rule March 25 whether to dismiss a grand jury accusation against three elected county officials.

After listening to four hours of legal arguments Friday, Los Angeles Superior Court Judge John W. Ouderkirk reserved his decision on a defense motion to throw out the civil misconduct accusations against two county supervisors and the auditor-controller.

The officials--Auditor-Controller Steve E. Lewis and Supervisors William G. Steiner and Roger R. Stanton--contend that they should not have to answer charges brought by the grand jury, which they argue was manipulated by Dist. Atty. Michael R. Capizzi, who is seeking to substitute his judgment for that of the 200,000 voters who elected the officials.

Stanton and Steiner were two of five supervisors in office when a risky investment scheme forged by former Treasurer-Tax Collector Robert L. Citron lost $1.64 billion. The other three supervisors have since left office.

The grand jury indictment accuses the two supervisors and Lewis of willful misconduct for allegedly failing to properly oversee the activities of Citron, whose investment losses caused Orange County to go bankrupt in December 1994.

The officials could be forced out of office if the grand jury charges are found true during a jury trial.

On Friday, Steiner’s lawyer, Allan H. Stokke, argued that his client was covered by “legislative immunity.”

He also said prosecutors were overstepping their powers by pressing charges against the officials. Voters, Stokke said, should ultimately decide the officials’ fate and “the voters have not chosen to exercise the power of recall” in this case.

But Deputy Dist. Atty. Wallace Wade disagreed.

Wade argued that the grand jury indictments were “an alternative” to the voters’ recall powers.

“This case is about accountability,” Wade said. “It’s about whether members of the Board of Supervisors did their job, did their homework.”