ORANGE COUNTY PERSPECTIVE : Lingering Case of Steve Lewis

Appeals courts work at their own pace, so it is uncertain when the next decision will come in Orange County’s case against its auditor-controller, Steve E. Lewis, over alleged transgressions leading up to the county’s bankruptcy. It would be good if the decision would come soon, so the county can save money and sort out what’s going on in attempts to assign accountability for the fiscal disaster.

Last week the 4th District Court of Appeal ruled that Dist. Atty. Michael R. Capizzi could not prosecute Lewis on charges of willful misconduct’ for failing to prevent the bankruptcy because the district attorney appeared to have a conflict of interest.

One instance cited by the court was Capizzi’s presence on a three-man executive committee that tried to get the county back on its feet after the December 1994 bankruptcy filing. The court also noted that Lewis always had claimed that Capizzi was one of the county officials who received Lewis’ audit of the office of Robert L. Citron, then the treasurer and tax collector for the county. There may not be an actual conflict, the court said, but the appearance of one is “so grave as to render it unlikely [Lewis] will receive fair treatment.”

Capizzi has denied receiving Lewis’ report, but the appeals court noted that in a trial the jurors might wonder whether the auditor had fulfilled his responsibilities by submitting the report and whether Capizzi was derelict in not acting on it. Letting the state attorney general prosecute Lewis would have been better.

Unfortunately, the court has left unresolved whether Lewis should be prosecuted at all. But based on the court’s earlier decisions, and some comments in the most recent one, Capizzi should not rush a prosecution of Lewis. It could turn out to be a waste of taxpayers’ money.

The same appeals court ruled last year that Capizzi was wrong to bring willful misconduct charges against former Supervisor Roger R. Stanton and current board Chairman William G. Steiner without evidence that they were corrupt or intended to break the law when their actions allegedly helped cause the bankruptcy. That standard is likely to wind up applying to Lewis as well.

Lewis should have resigned by now anyway. Any election campaign opponent is likely to remind voters of his record. But Capizzi should think twice before spending still more money just to get someone out of office.