EDITORIAL:

Orange County Superior Court Judge Kelly MacEachern dealt Costa Mesa officials a serious and embarrassing blow this week when the judge tossed the city’s case against Benito Acosta.

Acosta, who also goes by the name Coyotl Tezcatlipoca, was accused of two misdemeanor city code violations after he was arrested during a Jan. 3, 2006, City Council meeting. The council was discussing Mayor Allan Mansoor’s plan to train city police to enforce immigration laws. That point eventually grew moot when the federal government agreed to put an Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent in the city jail to check the immigration status of arrestees.

After Orange County prosecutors declined to press charges against Acosta, and the American Civil Liberties Union, on Acosta’s behalf, sued the city, city officials decided to pursue their own case against him.

The ACLU and Acosta argue that city officials sought political vengeance against the immigration advocate with their case and alleged that they denied him his 1st Amendment rights. ACLU attorneys tried to build a case in the defense that Mansoor gave Minuteman Project founder Jim Gilchrist more time to speak at the meeting and cut Acosta off short. Police officials argued that Acosta was riling up the emotional crowd and intended to disrupt.

We will never know whose side the jury would take because MacEachern asked city prosecutor Dan Peelman if he had been sworn in as a special prosecutor. Peelman acknowledged that he had not and argued that he has been prosecuting cases like this for other cities and no one asked him to take a special oath before.

That’s no excuse. It’s his job to know what’s required of him as an officer of the law. It’s hard to take issue with city officials since it’s not their task to make sure their representative in court takes care of all of his legal housekeeping. That was Peelman’s chore, and he failed to do that. Days later the appellate court rejected his appeal.

Whether the city vindictively pursued a case against Acosta to settle a political score or, as ACLU attorneys argue, to give themselves legal cover, that will all likely be adjudicated when Acosta’s civil suit gets its day in court. Then, sadly, the city will be plunged back into this divisive issue.