Prosecutor Forged Unusual Path to Courtroom

SANTA ANA — The lead prosecutor in the first criminal trial springing from the Orange County bankruptcy got her start in the working world as a United Airlines stewardess before the job was called “flight attendant.”

Jan J. Nolan, a 57-year-old grandmother with a blunt, no-nonsense courtroom manner, was raising a family in Lake Forest when she decided to go to law school in the early 1970s. The youngest of her four children had just entered kindergarten at age 5; her oldest was 9.

Nolan scored well on the admissions test and enrolled at Western State University Law School. But the Fullerton campus, apparently unsure how a housewife who had never attended college could possibly comprehend contracts, torts and constitutional law, declined to enroll her. So she was forced to commute to a branch in San Diego.

She earned high first-semester grades, promptly transferred to Orange County, and then dashed through the 4-year curriculum in 3 1/2 years, graduating first in her class. She left as valedictorian, with an armful of American Jurisprudence awards.

Leaping hurdles that would trip most people has been a Jan Nolan hallmark, say friends, colleagues and adversaries. Almost unanimously, they describe her as exceptionally bright, tenacious and determined.

Her boss, Orange County Dist. Atty. Michael R. Capizzi, says simply: “She’s just an outstanding attorney and, as a result, she’s an outstanding prosecutor. She has excellent trial skills, excellent research and analytical skills. She’s a complete attorney.”

All those talents, and a fiercely competitive nature, have been brought to bear on what will arguably be the biggest cases of her career--the Orange County bankruptcy matters. No one is surprised that Nolan was paired with fellow Assistant Dist. Atty. Wallace J. Wade to lead the prosecution.

Because of an admonition by the judge presiding over the case of People vs. Ronald S. Rubino not to try the case in the media, Nolan declined to be interviewed for this article, and waved off a photographer who tried to take her picture as she left the courtroom one day this past week.

The former county budget director is currently on trial on charges that he aided and abetted then-Treasurer-Tax Collector Robert L. Citron’s misappropriation of nearly $100 million belonging to cities, schools and special districts that had money in the county-run investment pool.

There are few things in her upbringing to suggest she would one day become the highest-ranking woman ever in the district attorney’s office, supervising 45 attorneys as chief of Superior Court Operations.

Not long after she was graduated from St. Anthony’s High School in Long Beach, where she was raised the second youngest of 11 children, she met former Navy Lt. Joseph Cuzzupoli and later married him.

Cuzzupoli, from whom she was divorced in 1981, said Nolan was born in Ponca, Neb., a tiny town near the Missouri River north of Sioux City. Her family moved briefly to Colorado, then settled in California before Nolan entered elementary school.

While Cuzzupoli, an aerospace engineer, worked at Rockwell International on the Apollo space capsule and later the space shuttle, Nolan began raising her children--two girls and two boys. She also sold real estate, Cuzzupoli said, and likely developed her interest in the law doing that.

“She just decided one day that she would try to apply at Western State,” he said, “and she took an entrance test and, without any college education, passed with tremendous marks.”

Soon, Nolan was regularly up until 1:30 a.m., poring over law books spread around her den, while still cooking, cleaning and seeing her kids off to school.

“They all looked up to her, and you better believe they knew they had to behave,” he said, especially after she joined the district attorney’s office.

Nolan started as a law clerk in the office in 1974. Edgar A. Freeman, a former assistant district attorney, said he recommended she be hired.

“She was an exceptionally talented lawyer, exceedingly bright,” said Freeman, who recalled her then as a mature woman who knew she had found her career path.

“I think her ability to analyze legal issues was her strongest point and that led her into writs and appeals,” Freeman said. To work in that section successfully, lawyers need to have a scholarly bent, he said.

She became a prosecutor at a time when the culture in the district attorney’s office was changing. “I’m sure if you ask women, they will say there was an old boys’ network at that time,” said Robert Chatterton, who worked in the office when Nolan was hired.

“We had an influx of very talented women in the mid-’70s, and she led the wave,” Chatterton said, referring to Nolan, 3rd District Court of Appeals Justice Patricia Manoukian and Superior Court Judge Jean Rheinheimer.

“Everything was evolving, and there was an aura the women had about establishing their legal equality that lingered, if not openly, at least in the minds of the old-time male lawyers,” Freeman said.

Nolan, he continued, “could hold her own with any of them. She could argue effectively without letting her emotions interfere with her ability to present a logical, cogent argument, and she could take rebuffs graciously.”

She developed a reputation as a resource for other attorneys stumped on a point of procedure or in need of an incisive analysis. “She could handle difficult technical issues,” said Superior Court Judge Anthony J. Rackauckas Jr. “She was somebody trial attorneys would go to a lot for assistance.”

Nolan developed into an able trial lawyer herself, especially adept at cross-examination. “She’s not as well-known as a trial lawyer as she should be,” said defense attorney Jennifer Keller. “But I can remember seeing her in trial, and she has an instinct for the jugular.”

Keller recalled seeing Nolan in action during an attempted murder trial several years ago. “She was scary; she was really, really good. Jan’s just a natural; she could have been any kind of trial lawyer she wanted to be,” Keller continued. “She’s got a tremendous rapport with people and she thinks of the courtroom as her living room.”

Defense attorney William J. Kopeny, who now opposes Nolan as part of legal team defending Supervisor Roger R. Stanton, said he has locked horns with Nolan several times. “I would describe her as tenacious.”

Kopeny, who was on the losing side in that attempted murder trial, recalled that his client had been accused of attacking an ex-girlfriend. “Jan had a lot in common with the victim in terms of her age and situation,” Kopeny said. “I think the jury could see that she identified with the victim. She did a good job, won a conviction and a prison sentence. I was impressed with her work.”

Kopeny has also opposed Nolan when arguing writs and appeals. “She’s like many Orange County prosecutors in pressing a point. She’s used to winning and is surprised when anything goes against her.”

Even as her career advanced, colleagues say, Nolan remained largely unaffected by her promotions. While on duty at Municipal Court in Westminster, Nolan “took an interest in all the cases,” said Superior Court Judge Luis A. Cardenas. “Unlike some of the higher level D.A.’s, she felt comfortable coming to court.”

Her employees often felt the same. “She was a great boss and had pretty sound judgment about everything D.A.’s are involved in,” said Joel P. Kew, now a business litigator in Irvine.

From July 1981 until February 1984, Nolan left the office for private practice as a civil litigator. “I remember seeing her in court one day,” Keller recalled. “She just looked absolutely miserable. She said, ‘I’m making more money than I’ve ever made, I have plush furniture and a beautiful view and I hate it.’ ”

Nolan soon returned to the world of metal desks and threadbare carpet. “This may offend her, but I think she’s a tough-as-nails prosecutor in the classical mold,” said Senior Assistant Atty. Gen. Gary W. Schons. It’s a sentiment echoed by many.

There’s also another side to Nolan who, over a drink and cigarette, will occasionally tell a raunchy joke. “A lot of people kind of fear Jan because she is a powerful person in the D.A.’s office, and she doesn’t suffer fools gladly,” said Keller.

“But she can be hilariously funny too. And she cheats at golf.”