Lopez: Damage to Hermandad Bad, Not Fatal

The leader of a Latino rights organization that has been under a yearlong criminal investigation into the registration of noncitizen voters said he felt vindicated by a report that the Orange County Grand Jury chose not to indict him or other members of the organization.

But Nativo V. Lopez, executive director of the Santa Ana office of Hermandad Mexicana Nacional, added that the organization’s image was badly damaged by months of allegations that it orchestrated fraudulent voting.

“It’s hard to erase that afterward,” said Lopez, whose organization helped thousands of legal residents become citizens and registered about 1,300 voters before the November 1996 election. “I think there will be permanent damage to the image of this organization, but it’s not something that can’t be overcome.”

Sources this week told The Times that Orange County Dist. Atty. Michael R. Capizzi was preparing to end his investigation of Hermandad without filing charges. One source also said the grand jury chose not to indict any officials or employees of Hermandad after the prosecution concluded its presentation three weeks ago.

Capizzi declined comment on the investigation or to say whether his office would consider filing charges in the case.

“At the appropriate time we will comment . . ,” he said. “At this point it would be premature.”

Capizzi acknowledged that two high-ranking members of his office, Wallace J. Wade and Guy Ormes, met with Secretary of State Bill Jones’ staff in Sacramento but declined to say what was discussed.

Jones, who has endorsed reforms to prevent voting by noncitizens, announced his own investigation of the matter last January and later called for a review of all 1.3 million registered voters in Orange County, which is still pending.

Capizzi launched his investigation a year ago after it was discovered that many of those who registered to vote at Hermandad did so before taking the oath of citizenship and thus were ineligible to cast ballots.

The issue drew national attention when former Rep. Robert K. Dornan insisted his 984-vote defeat to Loretta Sanchez (D-Garden Grove) was due to vote fraud. Dornan’s complaint prompted the House of Representatives to open an investigation that could overturn the election results.

On learning Thursday that the criminal case appeared to be nearly over, House Democrats called for an end to that investigation.

Lopez said he thought he had been targeted in the early days of the investigation, but judging from the questions asked during the grand jury proceedings, he felt the spotlight had turned away from him. He said he was called to testify, along with at least eight Hermandad employees and more than 10 members of Hermandad.

A source said prosecutors had unsuccessfully sought indictments against two Hermandad employees, but that Lopez was not one of them.

Mark Rosen, an attorney for Hermandad, said because the district attorney’s office had “its best shot” at Hermandad during the grand jury proceeding--which is closed to defense attorneys and the public--the lack of an indictment there would make it unlikely the office could successfully file charges in court.

“It would be nothing more than pure political persecution to take it any further now,” Rosen said. “They ought to just say, ‘We took our best shot and the grand jury didn’t buy it.’ Maybe they will. I’d like to see some closure to this.”

Lopez said he was initially concerned that politics would influence the outcome of the district attorney’s investigation.

“We were relieved to see the system worked,” he said. “Essentially, the grand jury concluded what we had declared from the very beginning. But it’s unfortunate that Hermandad and the community had to go through all this to get here.”

Several Latino leaders who supported Lopez and Hermandad throughout the investigation and had been extremely critical of press coverage said they were thrilled with the news that the investigation appeared to be winding to a close.

“This experience has invigorated and united us,” said Amin David, a local Latino activist. “We steadfastly maintained all along that we would be vindicated. Yes, it’s a victory for us and we can savor it for the moment, but there’s still a lot of work ahead for us. Our community has political resources that have yet to be tapped.”

On Thursday, at least one occasional critic of Lopez said she hoped that the grand jury’s action will begin to heal the differences that have split the Latino community since allegations of voter fraud were first raised last December.

“If they’re innocent, more power to them. It’s great they have been absolved of any guilt,” said Enriqueta Ramos, president of the Rancho Santiago Community College District Board of Trustees.

“There are many people who are fervent friends of Nativo, and just as many who feel the opposite and oppose his views,” Ramos said. “Nativo is not my enemy. Our differences are philosophical. Our community is diversified enough to accommodate many views.”

Most observers agreed the yearlong inquiry by the district attorney, secretary of state and Congress has unified Latinos in Orange County like no previous event.

Latinos viewed themselves as victims in a political battle where “one party viewed every one of us as potential felons and another mostly stood on the sidelines waiting to see what was going to happen before acting,” said community activist Art Montez.

“This incident, with groundless charges thrown against Hermandad, exposed the dark side of democracy, which is politics,” Montez said. “But in the end it’s also a vindication to people who believe in due process and in standing up for what’s right even when everyone, including the Los Angeles Times, says they’re wrong.”

Wylie A. Aitken, an advisor to Sanchez, agreed that the investigation of Hermandad and its apparent vindication will serve to galvanize the Latino community in Orange County like never before.

“The dropping of the charges and eventual capitulation of the Republicans is going to awaken the Hispanic community as to the power of the ballot box,” Aitken said. “This inquiry has produced the opposite effect intended by Dornan and the Republicans, which was to intimidate rather than encourage.”

Times staff writers Jodi Wilgoren and Peter M. Warren contributed to this report.

* ECHOES IN HOUSE: Democrats renew demand for end to House investigation. A16

* NEWS ANALYSIS: Grand juries seldom refuse to indict without good reason. A18

* DANA PARSONS: With no charges expected, O.C.’s “voter fraud” probe has only proved inflammatory. B1