City Attorney’s Race

With polls showing that crime is the No. 1 concern of Los Angeles residents, San Fernando Valley lawyer and real estate developer Ted Stein focused on it Thursday in airing the first television ad in his uphill campaign to unseat three-term incumbent Los Angeles City Atty. James K. Hahn in the April 8 election.

* THE AD: The 30-second commercial begins with spoken words informing listeners that it is “a message from the Los Angeles police,” while written words clarify that it is actually “a message from the Los Angeles Police Protective League.” The league is the principal LAPD union and its board of directors has endorsed Stein. The narration states: “We’ve never opposed a city attorney. But we see violent criminals back on the street because Jimmy Hahn’s not doing his job. Mr. Hahn lost 40% of jury trials in criminal cases and tried to give a $75,000 settlement to a criminal who shot an officer.” Footage shows a beaming Stein--one arm raised by Mayor Richard Riordan and another by a police union director as the narration continues: “We’re joining Mayor Riordan to endorse a candidate who’s never lost a jury trial--Ted Stein.” Stein is then shown in a law library, examining a book. “The choice?” the soundtrack asks. “Hayden and Hahn,” it says, referring to state Sen. Tom Hayden, who is Riordan’s opponent in the April 8 race for mayor, while separate black and white still photographs of each of them are displayed. “Or Riordan and Stein, the ticket endorsed by the Los Angeles police.” The spot closes with a shot looking up at a smiling Riordan and Stein.

* THE ANALYSIS: Although the Los Angeles Police Protective League now condemns Hahn as an ineffective prosecutor, its board last year encouraged him to run for higher prosecutorial office as Los Angeles County district attorney. Board members have explained that their principal objection to Hahn is their belief that his office does an inadequate job of defending officers named in civil lawsuits accusing them of misconduct. The commercial exaggerates Hahn’s failings as a prosecutor by implying that his office loses 40% of jury trials. The exaggeration is two-fold. The 40% figure does not include all jury trials, just the most serious cases. More important, the commercial does not acknowledge that jury trials constitute a tiny percentage--less than 1%--of the city attorney’s misdemeanor prosecutions. Municipal Court figures show that, for fiscal 1994-95, for example, the city attorney’s office obtained guilty pleas in almost 40,000 of its most serious cases, while losing only 137 of them in jury trials. In making its assertion that Hahn “tried to give a $75,000 settlement to a criminal who shot an officer,” the commercial is referring to the handling of a lawsuit brought by Manuel Najera against LAPD Sgt. Steve Richards. According to news accounts, Richards responded to a 1990 shooting and confronted a group of bystanders, one of whom took a shot at him and missed. He returned fire, wounding Najera in the face. He later identified Najera as the man who shot at him and missed. Najera denied that he was that man but pleaded no contest to a charge of assault with a deadly weapon and was placed on probation after serving six days in jail. Evidence in the case had been lost. Someone else in the crowd also fired at Richards, striking him in the hip. A Hahn subordinate offered to settle Najera’a lawsuit for $75,000. The settlement offer incensed Richards, who blasted Hahn publicly. The officer then met with Hahn, who withdrew the offer. Hahn subordinates defended the lawsuits through two jury trials. Both ended in hung juries. The lawsuit was recently dismissed. Finally, the commercial portrays Hahn and Hayden--whom polls show has a high negative rating--as members of the same ticket. They are not.