Bar, State Look Into Baugh Prosecution

The state attorney general’s office and the State Bar of California are looking into complaints that Dist. Atty. Michael R. Capizzi tried to blackmail a judge and violated professional conduct rules in his prosecution of Assemblyman Scott Baugh, who was charged with misreporting tens of thousands of dollars in campaign loans and contributions in 1995.

Atty. Gen. Dan Lungren reportedly assigned a deputy attorney general to “evaluate and process” complaints made by Rep. Dana Rohrabacher (R-Huntington Beach) regarding the Capizzi investigation.

Steve Telliano, a spokesman for Lungren, said an evaluation is a standard response to a written complaint and in itself would not give weight to the charges. If evidence is found of misconduct, “then we call it an investigation,” he said. Telliano would not comment on the specific case.

Rohrabacher reportedly had complained that Capizzi’s office tried to “blackmail” Superior Court Judge James L. Smith after the judge dismissed most of a grand jury indictment against Baugh. Capizzi later refiled the charges.

District attorney investigators involved in the case could not be reached for comment, but Capizzi has denied wrongdoing in the past.

Most of the charges relate to Baugh’s alleged misreporting of campaign loans and contributions during the special recall election in November 1995 in which Baugh replaced former Assemblywoman Doris Allen (R-Cypress).

The State Bar inquiry comes in response to a complaint from Baugh, who said investigators violated a State Bar rule by contacting him through his former campaign treasurer, who was wired to record the conversation without Baugh’s knowledge.

The recording in itself was not at issue, Baugh said. But by contacting Baugh directly rather than going through his attorney, the investigators may have violated a State Bar rule, he said.