Election Fraud Charges Refiled Against Baugh

Reviving the criminal prosecution of freshman Assemblyman Scott Baugh (R-Huntington Beach), the district attorney’s office Wednesday refiled its campaign finance fraud case, much of which had been dismissed by a judge last month.

Baugh, elected to office 10 months ago, is to be arraigned at 9 a.m. today on five felony perjury counts and 13 misdemeanor violations of the Campaign Reform Act.

Most relate to his alleged misreporting of tens of thousands of dollars of campaign loans and contributions stemming from a recall election in November 1995, in which he replaced then-Assemblywoman Doris Allen (R-Cypress.)

Baugh and his supporters, who were present in the courtroom, attacked the integrity of Orange County Dist. Atty. Michael R. Capizzi for continuing with the case.

“Michael Capizzi is being vindictive and irresponsible in the prosecution,” said Baugh, a few minutes after prosecutors announced the filing of the renewed charges. “We beat him once and we will beat him again. He cannot accept the fact that the evidence he used to get the original indictment was tainted and fraught with lies, misrepresentations and dishonest facts.”

The legislator, who is seeking reelection Nov. 5 to his coastal Orange County district seat, was originally indicted in March on four felony perjury counts and 18 misdemeanors relating to violations of campaign finance disclosure requirements. A key to the grand jury indictment was testimony of Baugh campaign treasurer Dan Traxler.

In dismissing 17 of the original 22 counts last month, Superior Court Judge James L. Smith had ruled that prosecutors had withheld critical evidence about Traxler’s truthfulness when he appeared before the grand jury, including information that Traxler at times told a different story to investigators.

Smith had ruled that depriving the grand jury of the opportunity to “fully evaluate his credibility . . . is fatal.” He also criticized prosecutors for acting too zealously in front of the grand jury and having “overstepped . . . recognized bounds.”

The Baugh legal team tried to keep the charges from being refiled, asking Smith to recuse the district attorney’s office and to require that any prosecution be handled by the state attorney general’s office.

“Mr. Baugh deserves an impartial, unbiased prosecutor,” said Baugh attorney Allan Stokke, adding that “lawyers found guilty of misconduct . . . cannot carry out their lawyerly duties.”

Smith rejected the defense request to recuse Capizzi’s office, saying he lacked the authority to do so.

Capizzi refused to be drawn into a debate about whether the prosecution was politically motivated.

“Haven’t we seen this movie?” asked Capizzi, weary of the often-repeated accusations that he had abused his office in continuing to pursue Baugh for what his supporters consider to be minor infractions of state election laws.

“We indicated before that we were going to get [the case] back on track, and now it is back on track,” Capizzi continued. “All we want to have is a resolution by a jury and I would hope [the defendants] would join us in trying to have it decided by a jury.”

On Wednesday, at the prosecutors’ request, Smith dismissed the remaining five counts of the indictment. That allowed them to refile the entire case in Municipal Court, where it essentially starts over.

For the revived case to proceed again to trial in Superior Court, prosecutors will have to demonstrate probable cause to believe that Baugh violated the law at a preliminary hearing in Municipal Court.

The recrafted charges encompass many of the same facts and charges contained in the original case against Baugh.

However, the complaints filed Wednesday are written to try to eliminate the prosecution’s need for Traxler’s testimony. They appear to be written narrowly to isolate Baugh’s conduct, concentrating on his alleged failure to report donations and loans as well as his alleged failure to correct errors on the financial statements that he signed under penalty of perjury.

“They tried a different twist,” Baugh said. “What they are trying to do is to get around Dan Traxler, but we can still call him as a witness.”

Prosecutors allege that Baugh falsified his campaign reports in part to hide his connection to a GOP scheme to recruit a decoy Democrat--Laurie Campbell--to siphon votes from his chief Democratic rival in the recall election.

Campbell and her husband, longtime friends of Baugh’s, had given Baugh a $1,000 donation one week before she was recruited into the contest by GOP aides. Baugh returned that money in cash, then allegedly misreported it.

Baugh has maintained his innocence, saying he acted on bad advice from Traxler, who then falsified his reports to cover up his own errors.

Among the other charges, prosecutors allege that Baugh lied on campaign reports to inflate his campaign account by not accurately reporting the return of $20,000 in loans. They also allege he improperly used cash in his campaign, including accepting $8,800 in cash from a friend.

The case against Baugh stemmed from a six-month investigation into the recall election and the events surrounding the Campbell candidacy. The contest led to the recall of Allen and tilted the balance of power in the Assembly. When Baugh replaced Allen, his vote led to the election of Republican Curt Pringle of Garden Grove as speaker.

Since the investigation began, three GOP aides have pleaded guilty to misdemeanor charges for their roles in placing Campbell on the ballot. Another, Rhonda Carmony, has been charged with three felonies for her alleged role in recruiting and helping Campbell get on the ballot. Carmony is the campaign manager for Rep. Dana Rohrabacher (R-Huntington Beach), who is Baugh’s political mentor.

Campbell was removed from the race in late October, when a Superior Court judge found she had filed falsified nominating papers.

Rohrabacher attended the hearing and launched a bitter attack on Capizzi in the courtroom during a break. He accused Capizzi of trying “to overturn an election.” “That’s what Nazis and Communists do,” he said.

Contributing to this story was Times staff writer Michael G. Wagner.