Candidate Won’t Face Vandalism Charge

Despite an admission of wrongdoing and videotaped evidence, the Ventura County district attorney’s office announced Tuesday that it would not charge state Assembly candidate Rich Sybert with vandalism for tearing down a rival’s campaign signs.

Prosecutors decided not to pursue misdemeanor charges against Sybert because they concluded they could not prove he broke the law when he ripped down candidate Tony Strickland’s signs, said Jeff Bennett, the district attorney’s chief deputy in charge of investigations.

“No one is saying his conduct is acceptable,” Bennett said. “However, criminal charges are only filed when we can prove something beyond a reasonable doubt. And in this case, we did not think we could have convinced a jury. Clearly, this is really an issue for voters to decide.”

Bennett said that some of the placards torn down by Sybert in Thousand Oaks had been posted illegally--without the permission of property owners or in clear violation of a city sign ordinance.

But he declined to elaborate on whether other signs Sybert destroyed had been illegally placed. He also declined to explain whether that made it legal to tear them down without permission. And he refused to comment on how that affected additional signs that had been torn down in Camarillo by Sybert.

Sybert and Strickland are among five candidates vying in the June 2 primary for the Republican nomination to the 37th Assembly District seat.

Last week, Strickland released a videotape taken by a campaign aide showing Sybert ripping down several signs. Sybert initially denied tearing down the campaign signs but, after being confronted with the videotape, admitted having done so.

In a terse news release, the district attorney’s office simply stated that it “views this matter essentially as a political controversy which is best resolved by the voters through the political process, not the criminal justice system.”

Dist. Atty. Michael D. Bradbury, also a Republican, could not be reached for comment. His office referred all calls to Bennett.

Sybert’s campaign manager, Joe Piechowski expressed relief with the district attorney’s decision, saying the Harvard-educated attorney and Oxnard toy company executive is eager to move on. Sybert, 46, who has unsuccessfully run for Congress twice and served as state director of planning and research for the Wilson administration, did not return phone calls Tuesday.

“Obviously, we’re very pleased,” Piechowski said. “We can now get back to talking about the issues in this campaign.”

Strickland’s campaign manager, Joe Giardiello, downplayed the decision not to prosecute, saying the videotape shot by Strickland’s supporters and the media attention it has generated speak for itself.

“The D.A. has decided that this is a political controversy best decided by the voters, and you know what? We agree with that,” Giardiello said. “We think the court of public opinion will yield quite a different verdict for Mr. Sybert.”