Fraud Charges Refiled Against Assemblyman

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

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

Most of the counts 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,” Baugh said 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, was 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 the testimony of Baugh campaign treasurer Dan Traxler.

In dismissing 17 of the original 22 counts last month, Superior Court Judge James L. Smith 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 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 said. “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.”

At the prosecution’s request, Smith dismissed the five counts of the indictment that he had not dismissed last month. That allowed prosecutors 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 at a preliminary hearing in Municipal Court that there is probable cause to believe that Baugh violated the law.

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.

The election was critical to Republicans statewide. When Baugh replaced Allen, it led to the election of Republican Curt Pringle as Assembly speaker.