Poor City Spends Big on Lawyers to Defend Officials

One of Los Angeles County’s poorest cities has assembled an expensive legal dream team featuring a former district attorney and former state Supreme Court justice to oppose prosecutors probing suspected political corruption.

The high-powered counterattack by Cudahy could foreshadow the kind of spare-no-expense defenses that other cities may mount as prosecutors proceed on corruption probes countywide.

Cudahy, population 24,000, has hired six law firms to represent targeted council members, the city attorney and City Manager George Perez, who is suspected of violating conflict-of-interest laws, possibly with the help of others.

The defense lineup includes former state Supreme Court Justice Cruz Reynoso, five former federal prosecutors and former Los Angeles County Dist. Atty. Robert H. Philibosian.

Philibosian was a campaign supporter of Dist. Atty. Steve Cooley, but now his firm has accused Cooley’s new public integrity unit of prosecutorial misconduct.

Attorney costs--including Philibosian’s $525 hourly fee--so far total about $210,000, and another $125,000 is budgeted for the city with fewer than 20 full-time employees and reserves of about $1.5 million.

Cities are not obligated to pay the criminal defense costs of public officials, but could be held liable in some cases if targets are cleared of wrongdoing. Some say that Cudahy’s aggressive response suggests that more is at stake than conflict-of-interest issues.

“The quick rush for a municipally funded defense, and then the [assemblage] of such a high-powered team raises questions as to how far this investigation might go,” said Steven Erie, a UC San Diego political science professor who studies Los Angeles politics.

Cudahy city officials say they have no choice but to use public funds to oppose “overzealous” prosecutors who have subpoenaed numerous witnesses and raided City Hall in search of documents.

But critics say the high-powered defense team is overkill, especially since no one in Cudahy has been charged.

The city’s strong counterattack represents the kind of challenges that await prosecutors in the anti-corruption unit. The aggressive division has already launched dozens of probes countywide.

In the only case filed thus far against a public official--a conflict-of-interest charge against Bell Gardens City Manager Maria Chacon--officials there have decided to pay the defense bills. Those fees total about $70,000, and some officials and residents have complained about the costs.

But it is a different story in Cudahy, where the spiraling expenses have gone largely unnoticed. A southeast Los Angeles County city of recent immigrants and many impoverished families, Cudahy has little public involvement in civic matters. In the city’s last election, only about 1,000 of the 4,000 registered voters went to the polls. Some elections have attracted fewer than 500 voters.

At Tuesday’s council meeting, attended by about 15 residents, members unanimously passed next year’s $11-million budget with no discussion in a hearing that took less than half an hour.

Per Capita Income Is a Mere $9,500

The city is the second-poorest in the county, with a $9,500 per capita income, according to Claritas Inc., a San Diego-based marketing data firm.

Perez, the city manager, declined to comment on the decision to use taxpayer money to defend himself and other officials. But he said that the city “is going to take a hit” financially.

Authorities suspect that Perez, a former council member, violated conflict-of-interest laws by voting for measures that cleared the way for his managerial appointment last year. Other officials may have helped Perez get appointed, prosecutors suspect.

Prosecutors claim that officials have refused to cooperate in the four-month probe. Defense attorneys accuse authorities of intimidating witnesses.

In June, lead defense attorney Thomas M. Brown, a Philibosian associate, accused the district attorney’s office of prosecutorial misconduct stemming from a heated Los Angeles County Grand Jury proceeding. During the hearing, prosecutors threatened contempt of court actions against Councilman Juan Romo and Assistant City Manager Aurora Martinez, both of whom refused to answer questions, citing their right against self-incrimination.

Martinez, who is not a probe target, broke down in tears after the grand jury foreman ordered her to turn herself in at the downtown criminal courts building for contempt proceedings, according to an unsealed hearing transcript.

Romo, described as an elderly Mexican immigrant with an eighth-grade education, was confused by the threats and eventually testified against his will, Brown said.

Superior Court Judge David S. Wesley’s ruling on the complaint against the district attorney was sealed and prosecutors said they could not comment.

But Brown, who claims he is not subject to the gag order, said the judge recommended that the district attorney’s office reevaluate its grand jury procedures after finding that prosecutors violated some of the witnesses’ constitutional rights.

Meanwhile, prosecutors are trying to get Philibosian’s firm disqualified, saying it unlawfully represented various Cudahy officials at once. The arrangement, they claim, could jeopardize their case because an official could later claim that his interests were compromised by the attorney’s work for another official.

Prosecutors reject charges that their probe will hurt the city’s mostly poor residents by diverting resources from community services. They say they acted in response to complaints from citizens.

“We’ve got nothing against the people in that town and I hope that the city’s residents don’t suffer because of this investigation, “ said Deputy Dist. Atty. Terry Bork, who is heading the probe.

Philibosian’s law firm has asked Reynoso to handle the disqualification matter. Reynoso, a UC Davis law professor, was not available for comment.

Some Cudahy residents applaud their leaders’ actions. “I think that they should spare no expense because I don’t think they’ve done anything wrong,” said Michelle Gessner, a Parks and Recreation commissioner.

But others worry that taxpayers may be stuck with a huge bill. “I think it’s excessive,” said Araceli Gonzalez, a former council member and frequent Perez critic. “Is it in the best interest of the city, or the best interest of the council members?”