Perjury Investigation of Ex-Senator Robbins Urged

Here’s a riddle that might stump even the slickest politicians in this town: When is accepting money in exchange for agreeing to take official action not a bribe?

Answer: When convicted former state Sen. Alan Robbins (D-Van Nuys) explains it.

That’s Robbins’ story and he’s sticking to it, even though he admitted before a judge, a prosecutor and his lawyer in federal court in Sacramento that he took money in exchange for official actions. In describing those actions, Robbins used the word “bribe.”

That was back in the early 1990s, when he pleaded guilty to federal racketeering and tax evasion charges and testified against Sacramento lobbyist Clay Jackson in an effort to reduce his federal prison sentence.

Then in August, in a separate case in Superior Court in Van Nuys, Robbins steadfastly denied under oath that he ever admitted taking a bribe.

All this would be old news except that Jackson and another man are in prison largely on the strength of Robbins’ testimony.

On Tuesday, San Francisco attorney Dennis Riordan, representing Jackson, cited Robbins’ varying stories in a letter to state and federal prosecutors calling on them to investigate Robbins for perjury and possibly return him to prison.

“[The conflicting stories] certainly tells you that Alan Robbins will say anything however false to further his interest,” Riordan said in a phone interview after sending the letter.

Prosecutors who received the letter Tuesday could not be reached. Nor could Robbins.

“Alan believes that he testified truthfully in both trials,” Robbins’ attorney, Michael Lipman of San Diego, said Tuesday.

Robbins was called by the Los Angeles County district attorney’s office in August as a prosecution witness against Ted Titmas. Titmas had leased Robbins’ home when Robbins went to prison in 1992.

Titmas was tried and convicted of theft after Robbins accused him of stealing $92,000 worth of furniture from the home. Titmas is serving a 2 1/2-year state prison sentence.

“So, Mr. Robbins,” Titmas’ lawyer, Bruce Cormicle, inquired, “may I ask you . . . did you admit taking bribes during the course of your tenure as a senator . . . have you admitted on a previous occasion that you took bribes as a state senator?”

“My answer,” said Robbins, “would be in the negative.”

In 1991, Robbins gave up the San Fernando Valley Senate seat he held for 18 years, and pleaded guilty in federal court in Sacramento to charges of racketeering and income tax evasion.

Although he did not specifically admit to the crime of “bribery,” he did admit to three acts as part of the racketeering count that involved accepting bribes from Jackson’s clients in the form of campaign contributions totaling almost $30,000.

In exchange, Robbins testified, he carried or cast votes on bills involving Jackson’s clients.

What’s more, when he testified against Jackson in 1993, Robbins repeatedly acknowledged he agreed to act on bills in certain ways in exchange for money--the definition of accepting bribes.

Robbins was the lead prosecution witness against Jackson, who was convicted by a jury of bribing Robbins, although Jackson denied ever doing so. In exchange for his cooperation, Robbins’ prison sentence was cut to two years.

Jackson, meanwhile, is halfway through his 6 1/2-year sentence at a federal prison in Nevada.

During that 1993 testimony, Jackson’s trial lawyer, Donald Heller, asked Robbins about a time one of Jackson’s clients gave him campaign money: “You understood that to be your accepting a bribe?”

“If you pin it down to those terms, yes,” Robbins said.

Later that day, Robbins also testified: “I understand that what [Jackson] was offering me was money in exchange for legislative assistance and as I understand the law that constitutes a bribe.”

“What a guy,” Heller said Tuesday in an interview. “You have to search long and hard to find someone who has less honesty and integrity.”

In a letter to the U.S. attorney in Sacramento, Riordan contends that Robbins’ claim in his testimony against Titmas that he took no bribes “vindicates Jackson’s defense: He never bribed Robbins.”

And if Robbins was lying when he testified against Jackson, the Justice Department is “morally and legally obliged” to move to have Jackson’s conviction vacated, Riordan’s letter says. The reverse also is true, Riordan’s letter says.

In a copy of the letter to Dist. Atty. Gil Garcetti, Riordan says that if Robbins lied when he testified against Titmas, and in fact did take bribes, Titmas’ conviction must be reversed.

“It is indisputable,” Riordan’s letter concludes, “that Robbins induced one or both of your offices to offer perjured testimony that would further his personal interests. A joint investigation of this matter is in order.”

(BEGIN TEXT OF INFOBOX / INFOGRAPHIC)

Conflicting Statements

Testimony of former state Sen. Alan Robbins (D-Van Nuys), who in 1991 pleaded guilty to charges of racketeering and tax evasion:

U.S. District Court, Sacramento, Oct. 14, 1993

Question from attorney for lobbyist Clayton Jackson, who was convicted of bribery:

“You understood [that you were] accepting a bribe?”

Reply by Robbins:

“If you pin it down to those terms, yes.”

Later that day, Robbins testified:

“I understand that what [Jackson] was offering me was money in exchange for legislative assistance and as I understand the law that constitutes a bribe.”

Source: Trial transcripts

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L.A. County Superior Court, Aug. 12, 1996

Question from an attorney for Ted Titmas:

“So, Mr. Robbins, . . . did you admit taking bribes during the course of your tenure as a senator? . . . Have you admitted on a previous occasion that you took bribes as a state senator?”

Reply by Robbins:

“My answer would be in the negative.”