Judge Refuses to Recuse D.A. in Case Involving Ex-Backer
A judge in Norwalk has refused to disqualify the entire district attorney’s office from the prosecution of a case involving Guess? Inc., a hefty contributor to Dist. Atty. Gil Garcetti’s prior election campaign.
In a ruling issued Monday, Superior Court Judge John Torribio found that the district attorney’s office did have a technical conflict of interest in prosecuting a case involving stolen Guess? jeans.
But Torribio ruled that it did not mean 26-year-old Radni Solimanzadeh, accused of receiving stolen property, could not get a fair trial--and so the judge ordered the district attorney’s office to stay on the case.
The ruling, issued as election day nears, is likely to focus attention yet again on the enormous sums Garcetti has received from Guess and from company co-founder Georges Marciano.
Guess? Inc. contributed $170,000 to Garcetti’s 1992 campaign. Marciano, who has since left the company, gave $50,000 last year.
There is no ceiling on donations in county elections. The contributions from Guess and Marciano have been properly disclosed and reported to election officials.
On Tuesday, Rick Taylor, the campaign manager for Deputy Dist. Atty. John Lynch--who is challenging Garcetti in the fall election--said the sums raise “if not in reality . . . certainly a perception” of a conflict of interest.
Garcetti’s campaign manager, Matt Middlebrook, declined to comment Tuesday.
According to Roger Gunson, the deputy district attorney overseeing the case, Garcetti “had nothing to do” with the filing of charges or the ongoing prosecution of the Solimanzadeh case.
According to briefs filed in the case, Solimanzadeh was charged in connection with the theft of 3,000 pairs of jeans with a wholesale value of about $120,000.
Three co-defendants accepted plea bargains before Solimanzadeh’s attorney, Mark Geragos, citing the campaign contributions, sought to recuse the entire district attorney’s office.
Geragos had similarly sought earlier this year to recuse the entire office in a case involving Zenith Insurance, which has given Garcetti at least $82,500 in campaign contributions since 1992.
In that case, which involved allegations that Zenith was the victim of a purported workers’ compensation fraud, Superior Court Judge Michael Cowell found no real or apparent conflict of interest and ordered the prosecutor’s office to stay put.
In the Guess case, the district attorney’s office--joined by the attorney general’s office--contended that the real victim was Jeans Plus, a sewing subcontractor.
Torribio ruled Monday, however, that Guess was technically a victim too--because, according to court papers, it received a $47,000 check from Jeans Plus’ insurer to help cover the theft.
But Torribio said that did not prove that the district attorney’s office could not fairly prosecute Solimanzadeh.
