Jury Chosen for Ex-O.C. Official Rubino’s Trial

One juror sounded disappointed--she had hoped for a murder trial. Another was relieved to know there would be no blood and guts. A third was surprised she had never heard of such a high-profile criminal case.

All three women were selected Thursday as members of the Orange County Superior Court jury that will hear the financial misappropriation charges against former County Budget Director Ronald S. Rubino--the first criminal trial linked to the county bankruptcy nearly two years ago.

On the fourth day of jury selection, the prosecution and defense agreed upon a panel of 11 women and one man that includes two school staffers, a Santa Ana public works employee and a postal worker.

Lawyers will deliver opening statements on Monday. The trial is expected to last three months.

Picking a jury for the case proved relatively smooth, considering the trial stemmed from a $1.64-billion collapse that forced the layoffs of 580 county employees and went down in history as the largest municipal bankruptcy in U.S. history.

While some prospective jurors who claimed to have suffered from the bankruptcy were dismissed earlier in the week, most of those questioned Thursday said they had seen no ill effects of the bankruptcy--in county services, home values or the likelihood of increased taxes.

Several prospective jurors said they were only vaguely familiar with the bankruptcy and knew nothing of the charges against Rubino, 44, who is accused of two felony counts of helping former Treasurer-Tax Collector Robert L. Citron in a scheme to divert to the county’s benefit some $60 million in interest belonging to school districts and other municipalities with money in the county-run investment pool.

“I thought this was all basically settled,” said a Garden Grove wedding decorator who remained on the panel.

Superior Court Judge J. Stephen Czuleger had said he was surprised “at the number of [prospective jurors] here who said they’ve seen no publicity about this.”

Czuleger, a Los Angeles County judge named to handle the case after the entire Orange County bench was disqualified, gently ribbed prospective jurors as he questioned them about their backgrounds, and whether they could give Rubino a fair hearing because of “the bankruptcy thing.”

Despite an array of criminal and civil charges against half a dozen former county officials, more than a year of political tumult, and voluminous media coverage of the Dec. 6, 1994, collapse, there was little sign in the courtroom that the financial catastrophe had made much of a splash with the folks called to hear the Rubino case.

“We didn’t feel a thing,” said a hospital finance specialist who was picked as an alternate juror.

Several of the jurors said they knew Citron’s name, but chiefly as the official to whom they used to write out checks to settle their property taxes. Citron, who pleaded guilty to six felonies arising from his handling of the failed investment pool, is expected to testify for the prosecution in the Rubino trial.

A school cafeteria worker chosen for the jury said she knew “very little” about the case. “Only that we went bankrupt,” she wrote on a juror questionnaire.

A Mission Viejo retiree was philosophical on whether the bankruptcy would affect the taxes she pays.

“They can’t go up much further,” she shrugged.

The identities of all of the jurors were being kept confidential by the court, which removed their names from the completed questionnaires.

Rubino is one of three former officials charged with crimes in connection with the financial crisis that forced the bankruptcy. Citron admitted guilt to fraud and misappropriation of public funds. His deputy, Matthew Raabe, pleaded innocent and awaits trial in September on the same charges.

Raabe was a key witness who implicated Rubino before a grand jury last year. But Raabe is expected to invoke his right against self-incrimination in the Rubino case and most likely will not testify.

Prosecutors told Czuleger on Thursday that instead they will seek to show the jury financial documents prepared by Raabe that purportedly indicate the diversion scheme and Rubino’s knowledge about it.

“Mr. Rubino was well aware. He had knowledge of criminal conduct,” Assistant Dist. Atty. Brent F. Romney said during a hearing after jury selection.

Defense attorney Rodney Perlman signaled that he would oppose such efforts.

Prosecutors said their first witnesses Monday will be participants in the ill-fated investment pool that Citron managed for the county and nearly 200 local government agencies.

Any details about that pool--and the resulting bankruptcy--will likely be unfamiliar terrain for jurors, based on their responses to the questionnaire and the judge’s queries in court.

While several recalled seeing news articles about the case, none of those chosen for the jury said they could remember details. “I read the headlines but not the articles,” said one juror, who wrote that her stepdaughter might work part-time for the county.

More than one prospective juror told Czuleger they were hoping for a zestier case. One alternate juror said he’d prefer sitting through evidence in a murder trial.

“That’s all I do in Los Angeles,” Czuleger told him. “You’re really not missing a lot.”

(BEGIN TEXT OF INFOBOX / INFOGRAPHIC)

Polling the Jury Candidates

Prospective jurors for the trial of former County Budget Director Ronald S. Rubino answered written questions Monday, including some about the county’s bankruptcy. Some examples:

* Have you or any immediate member of your family ever purchased any bond or other financial instrument issued by the County of Orange or by any of the agencies on the attached list [of Orange County investment pool participants]? If yes, please indicate which agency, the amount and timing of the purchase and sale if applicable.

* While this case does not directly involve the recent bankruptcy of Orange County, it is a subject that may be discussed during the trial. Therefore, have you, any immediate member of your family or close friends been personally impacted by the recent bankruptcy? If yes, please describe that impact and whether you believe it would make it harder for you to be fair as a juror in this case.

* There has been some publicity about this case. Have you seen, read or heard anything about this case in the media? If yes, briefly describe what you have heard and whether it would affect your ability to be fair as a juror in this case?

Source: Orange County Superior Court