Judge to Keep Most Papers in Edison Fire Probe Sealed

A judge deciding a dispute between prosecutors and Southern California Edison Co. said Wednesday he will probably bar disclosure of most, but not all, of the papers sealed by a special master during last month’s raid on Edison offices.

At a hearing in Los Angeles Superior Court, Judge William R. Pounders said there appears to be no legal grounds to withhold about 20 pages--but that most of the documents are privileged or beyond the scope of a continuing criminal probe of Edison’s role in last year’s Calabasas wildfire.

In identifying the page numbers of papers he is most likely to release, Pounders made it clear that prosecutors will not be getting half a dozen internal reports and memos discussing the cause of the fire, which began Oct. 21, 1996, and raged for several days.

But Pounders’ preliminary ruling, which he said he expects to make formal in the next few days, does not appear to stymie the criminal probe. Officials with the California Department of Forestry and Fire Prevention are poring over hundreds of pages of documents seized during the search of Edison offices on Sept. 29 and 30. And other aspects of the probe are also continuing.

On Wednesday, for instance, Pounders approved a motion authorizing the destructive testing of a lightning arrester by an expert working with the Los Angeles district attorney’s office, which is representing the forestry department in the investigation. The arrester, an electrical device that sat atop a power pole at the fire scene, may provide evidence in the case.

Assistant Dist. Atty. Michael Cabral and Edison lawyers declined comment after the hearing.

The fire swept over 13,000 acres of the Santa Monica Mountains, burning 11 homes and other structures and critically injuring a firefighter. The forestry department, which concluded the fire resulted from Edison’s failure to trim trees that brushed against a power line, is investigating the company under a state law that makes it a felony to “recklessly” cause a fire that results in serious bodily injury.

Edison says the fire might just as well have been caused by windblown debris hitting power lines, in which case it would not be at fault. And after news reports of the Edison raid, a woman came forward to say she saw the blaze kindled by sparks from the backfire of a truck passing near the fire scene on the Ventura Freeway.

About 50 state investigators and local law enforcement officers seized documents, damaged electrical equipment and tree limbs at Edison’s Rosemead headquarters and several branch offices during the raid.

During the search, Edison lawyers quickly arranged for a special court-appointed master to take possession of about 200 pages of records pending a ruling on its claims that the documents were privileged--and thus immune to disclosure.

Normally, documents are privileged if they involve confidential communications between attorneys and their clients, or if they reveal the thoughts or legal strategies of lawyers preparing a client’s case.

Some of the disputed documents were generated by Edison claims investigators. In court papers filed since the raid, Edison said the reports are privileged because the claims investigators are agents of its legal department, and were under explicit instructions to gather information in preparation for possible litigation.

Other documents, Edison said, were beyond the scope of the search warrant because of the subject matter or date they were prepared.

In its pleadings, the district attorney’s office said Edison’s privilege claims were overly broad.

Pounders announced page numbers of the documents he said he will probably release.

“That was all I found that I felt was not privileged, and related to items in the search warrant,” he said.

Not included were six investigative reports identified on a “privilege log,” or list of the disputed documents. These papers, described on the log as “confidential investigation memorandum,” or “confidential investigation report,” were written between Oct. 29 and Dec. 11, 1996, by Edison claims investigators Daryl Imler and Robert Conway.

Pounders said he expects either or both sides to appeal his ruling, adding that he will probably keep the documents under seal during arguments on the appeals.