Judgeship Not for Likes of Capizzi

* Instead of being rewarded for years of public service, former Orange County Dist. Atty. Mike Capizzi was sent into political oblivion last month when Gov. Pete Wilson rejected his bid to become a judge.

The media erroneously assumed that Capizzi was rejected because he angered party loyalists for prosecuting conservative Republicans. The media missed the point. Capizzi’s final blow can be traced back to a series of prosecution fiascoes starting with the 1994 county bankruptcy.

The first fiasco occurred when Capizzi was asleep at the switch while county Treasurer Bob Citron began making illegal investments. According to three appellate justices, evidence existed “implicating the district attorney in the alleged misconduct which led to the county’s financial disaster.”

In an effort to deflect attention, Capizzi sought and obtained grand jury charges against Supervisors Roger Stanton and William Steiner. The result was a failed multimillion-dollar prosecution.

Intermingled with these events was the recall of Assemblywoman Doris Allen and the subsequent multimillion-dollar failed prosecution of Assemblyman Scott Baugh (R-Huntington Beach). The media were wrong to conclude that conservatives rejected Capizzi for prosecuting one of their own.

Conservatives do not object to the prosecution of conservatives per se. They do object to prosecutions that are politically motivated and laced with prosecution abuse.

Superior Court Judge James Smith stated that Capizzi’s office destroyed the independence of the grand jury, violated the equal protection and due process clauses of the Constitution, deliberately withheld evidence from the grand jury, and obtained a false indictment by relying on a witness described as having a “creative recollection of the events.”

Superior Court Judge David Carter stated that the actions from Capizzi’s office were so egregious that they bordered on criminal “extortion.”

Superior Court Judge William Evans stated that Capizzi’s conduct with the grand jury was “careless.”

Superior Court Judge Francisco Briseno stated that Capizzi’s “misconduct was very, very, very grave.”

JIM RIGHEIMER

Fountain Valley