Raabe Wasn’t Playing Cards Right With One-Day Defense

I see enough lawyers on Geraldo Rivera’s nighttime TV show to know that second-guessing is one of the things they do best. If Geraldo runs out of topics any time soon, he could do an entire hour on Matt Raabe and his legal strategy, now that a jury has returned a thumbs-down verdict against the former assistant county treasurer.

The title for the show could be “And Raabe’s Defense Was What, Exactly?”

As best we can tell, the defense was that the treasurer’s office had the authority to set the rate of interest return for the public entities in the county-run investment pool. So it was perfectly all right for the county to divert some of the unusually high returns to a separate county fund.

Excuse me while I make a collect call to my money man and make sure that isn’t his philosophy.

On top of that legal interpretation, which apparently didn’t dazzle the jury, Raabe’s defense was that he worked long hours and was a nice guy. I’m not prepared to dispute that, but I bet one of those second-guessing lawyers on Geraldo would say that if your defense is that your client is a great guy, why not have him testify? What better way to impress a jury than by putting the great guy on the stand, especially when his former boss--who’s already pleaded guilty to the same charges--testified that the diversion plan was Raabe’s from the get-go?

Raabe did not take the stand, however, and a juror might well conclude that he was a nice, hard-working guy who didn’t particularly want to be cross-examined. Indeed, the Raabe defense took all of one day. The ol’ Is That All There Is defense.

What a wacky turn of events. Usually, it’s the underling who rolls over on the boss. In this case, Boss Robert Citron rolled over on Raabe. With a boss like that, who needs backbiting colleagues?

The Raabe strategy of doom would be nothing more than cocktail-party palaver if it weren’t for the tiny matter that he now faces sentencing. The maximum on the five-count conviction is 14 years and $10 million in fines.

And this is where he may really get the short end of the stick.

Former treasurer Citron pleaded guilty and, although subject to the same sentence range as Raabe, got a wrist-slap. Since January, he’s done clerical work for the county by day and gone home at night. If he can handle that for a year (and probably less), his debt is paid.

The sentencing judge cited Citron’s willingness to plead guilty and to cooperate with the prosecution. The judge made it clear he would have gone much harder on Citron had he not spared everyone a trial. Now, along comes Raabe, who decided to fight the charges, and you wonder if he’ll get the same break Citron got.

A different judge heard the Raabe case, and maybe he won’t hold it against Raabe for insisting on a trial. At the very least, one wonders why Raabe should get a more severe sentence than his boss, even if the diversion scheme was his idea.

If Raabe were the veteran treasurer and Citron his naive assistant, that might make sense. Instead, Citron, now 71, succeeded in transforming himself since the bankruptcy from financial whiz to doddering but well-meaning public servant. He went along with Raabe’s diversion scheme, he testified during Raabe’s trial, because Raabe was sharp as a tack and Citron trusted him.

Maybe that’s why Raabe smiled while Citron testified. The old man had it wired pretty good.

Anyway, if Raabe gets bombed at sentencing, the question haunts: Why, if the defense was going to be so flimsy, did he risk a trial? If he wasn’t going to testify, why take the chance? Why not cop, just like Citron did, and throw himself on the mercy of the court?

Raabe would say, as his attorney did, that he didn’t consider his conduct criminal. Funny thing is, Citron essentially said the same thing about himself: Even though he pleaded guilty, he has said he didn’t knowingly do anything illegal.

Of course, he doesn’t have to worry. He sleeps at home every night.

Where Raabe sleeps in the upcoming months and years remains to be seen.

If Raabe ends up in prison, the second-guessers will be out in force. Is it because he’s 41 and Citron is 71? Is it because Citron folded his hand and Raabe chose to play his cards, however feebly?

Should the No. 2 man in the office be given a stiffer sentence than the No. 1 man?

Good questions, if I do say so myself.

I think I see several Geraldo shows in the making.

Dana Parsons’ column appears Wednesday, Friday and Sunday. Readers may reach Parsons by writing to him at The Times Orange County Edition, 1375 Sunflower Ave., Costa Mesa, CA 92626, or calling (714) 966-7821.