Ex-Prosecutor Demands Due From D.A.

Oscar’s sting . . . Life imitates “Melrose Place” . . . Marcia Clark’s photo album . . . Powter burns.

Beware the wrath of Conn.

Former prosecutor David P. Conn won convictions at the retrial of the murdering Menendez brothers. For his efforts he got shipped out to Norwalk. He quit.

Others who shall go nameless lost the O.J. Simpson case, big-time, and got fat bonuses from the boss, Dist. Atty. Gil Garcetti, on top of fat book contracts from the publishing houses. They quit, too.

Observers of that dysfunctional family known as the Los Angeles County district attorney’s office long have believed that Conn was denied a promotion and dispatched to the exurbs after he expressed the desire to someday sit in the boss’ seat.

Now Conn is suing Garcetti, who apparently wants to be District Attorney for Life, and Los Angeles County for 470 1/2 hours of overtime he’s owed for the Menendez case. Conn’s suit, filed by attorney Rees Lloyd, contends that more than a year after he won his beef before the county’s Civil Service Commission, Conn has yet to see a dime of overtime.

Because the unpaid overtime, accrued during 1994 and 1995, was reflected in his paycheck stubs, Conn is accusing Garcetti of fraud. Conn says he was led to believe the money would someday be paid. According to court papers, the fraud occurred when Conn was told he could carry over his overtime from one year to the next, when that wasn’t the case.

Conn also alleges that Garcetti discriminated against him and created working conditions “so onerous” he was forced to leave the office after nearly 20 years.

Garcetti’s office had no comment, and referred calls to the county counsel. Conn, however, observed: “If only Garcetti had gone after O.J. Simpson with the same determination that he goes after his own prosecutors, O.J. wouldn’t be on the golf course today.”

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THE STING: Oscar’s big bash came and went this year, apparently without the stain of litigation. And the Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences finally has prevailed in last year’s lawsuit against Oscar ticket scalpers.

The academy went undercover in its own version of “The Sting” to ensnare New York businessman Rey Olsen and his company, World Sports Group. Private investigator Bud Meyercamp posed as an insurance agent who promised Oscar tickets to a client and arranged to buy two ducats for $10,000. The deal was sealed in the parking lot of a Good Guys store in Monterey Park.

Los Angeles Superior Court Judge David Horowitz permanently enjoined Olsen from trafficking in Oscar tickets. He is liable for damages in excess of $32,000, according to academy lawyer David Quinto.

The source of the tickets was actor Michael Dante, an academy member who appeared in B-movies such as “Operation Bikini” and “Willard.” He was booted out of the academy.

After the P.I. backed out, Olsen sold the tickets to Long Island radio station WLIR-FM, which gave them away in a contest. When the winning couple showed up for the Oscarfest, they were confronted and shown the door.

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NEXT, ON “MELROSE PLACE”: The former producer of the canceled Monday night soaper “Melrose Place” is seeking $10 million from Spelling Television, claiming he was wrongfully fired and made a scapegoat for an underling’s sexual harassment case.

Chip Hayes, formally known as James W. Hayes III, also is seeking $974,000--his payment for the 1998 season.

Hayes’ suit says he was fired a year ago, allegedly for “failing to exercise proper supervisorial judgment” on the set during the 1997 season. One of the show’s assistant directors, according to court papers, claimed that a production manager had brought Internet porn onto the set and created a “hostile work environment.”

“At no time,” the suit states, was Hayes advised that it was his responsibility to enforce any Spelling sexual harassment policy, “or that violation of that policy by one of his subordinates would be grounds for termination.” When Hayes signed his contract in 1992, Spelling didn’t even have a sexual harassment policy, the suit says.

The suit by entertainment attorney Barry B. Langberg alleges that Spelling violated Hayes’ privacy by breaking into his locked office and snooping through his computer files the day before he was canned. It also contends that Spelling defamed Hayes by saying he had blown the production budget.

A Spelling spokesperson could not be reached.

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PHOTO FINISH: Superior Court Judge Alan G. Bucker has tossed out a suit challenging the right of a prosecutor and detectives in the O.J. Simpson case to publish crime scene photos in their memoirs.

Laguna Beach lawyer Merritt Lori McKeon invoked the state whistle-blower statutes in her civil suit over the use of crime scene photos of Nicole Brown Simpson and Ronald Lyle Goldman.

The suit claims that the photos came from sealed court files and that the defendants had no right to use state property for personal profit.

But the judge ruled that McKeon did not have standing to bring the case.

Attorneys for former prosecutor Marcia Clark and retired Los Angeles Police Department Dets. Tom Lange and Philip Vannatter argued that McKeon’s action amounted to censorship.

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STOPPING THE INSANITY: Meanwhile, down in Muni Court, another lawsuit bit the dust. Gone is buzz-cut diet czarina Susan Powter’s $1-million suit alleging that her ex was dissing her over the Internet.

Powter claimed that Lincoln Apeland was defaming her on his Web page, saying she is mentally ill and suffering from “just about any sort of incurable emotional problem that destroys relationships and/or lives.” He also allegedly branded her “a severe control freak.”

Powter is known for her “stop the insanity” diet regimen, peddled via infomercial.

Municipal Judge Carol Bose Goodson tossed out the case, saying she lacked jurisdiction over an out-of-state defendant.

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