Mistrial Declared in O.C. Election Case

A judge declared a mistrial Friday in the felony trial of Republican campaign aide Rhonda Carmony after jurors deliberating her fate for three days declared themselves deadlocked but heavily leaning toward conviction.

Carmony, 27, did not comment as she left the courtroom with her attorney, Creighton Laz.

“Imagine sitting in trial for five weeks and getting this kind of a decision,” Laz said. “We thought we had a good chance to win.”

Assistant Dist. Atty. Brent Romney said his office would decide whether to retry the three election law felony charges by Aug. 1, when Carmony was ordered back to court. He said the fact that the jury split 10-2, 10-2 and 9-3 in favor of conviction on the three counts was a strong argument for a retrial.

“We’re going to do everything we can to determine if it’s reasonably possible to reach a verdict in a retrial,” he said.

Prosecutors allege that Carmony violated election laws to help Laurie Campbell, a Democratic spoiler candidate, qualify for a pivotal November 1995 special election while hiding the involvement of several GOP aides. Carmony was charged with conspiracy and falsely making and filing nomination papers for Campbell.

Juror Chris Aragon, 35, a United Parcel Service driver from Mission Viejo, said he believed Carmony was guilty and was frustrated by the jury’s inability to reach a verdict.

He disputed defense arguments during the trial that Carmony played a minor role in the scheme, which Laz argued was orchestrated by Assemblyman Curt Pringle (R-Garden Grove) and his chief of staff, Jeff Flint, at the behest of wealthy GOP donors who wanted to boost the odds of a Republican victory.

“It doesn’t matter. If you’re a player, you’re a player,” Aragon said. “Whether she was a mastermind or not, she was a player.”

The main holdout, jurors said, was a psychiatrist who “did not want to believe that [Carmony] had anything to do with it.”

The case galvanized Republican conservatives, who accused Orange County Dist. Atty. Michael R. Capizzi of grandstanding by filing the charges and retaliated against him by placing a no-confidence vote against him at the state GOP convention. Capizzi filed a second felony complaint against eventual election winner Scott Baugh, alleging that he misreported thousands of dollars of campaign contributions and loans.