Ex-S.F. Mayor Alioto Cleared in Bar Inquiry

SAN FRANCISCO —  After only a few hours of testimony, the State Bar on Wednesday dropped all charges against former San Francisco Mayor Joseph L. Alioto, but left his son, Joe M. Alioto, still accused of misconduct in the same 1975 antitrust case.

Alioto immediately thanked the Bar court “for a just and fair trial which has resulted inevitably in complete vindication. . . . I was confident I could prove the charges were nothing more than vicious and baseless attacks on my reputation and my practice.”

The decision of Bar court referee C. Thorne Corse is subject to approval of the Bar’s Review Department, spokeswoman Anne Charles said.

There was no explanation with Corse’s decision, but the referee indicated Tuesday, hours before Alioto testified, that the transcript of the complex case pointed to a dismissal of the charges against the elder Alioto.

The former mayor repeatedly maintained that he had nothing to do with the negotiation of a $9-million settlement of a beef ranchers’ antitrust suit against a grocery chain.

Alioto and his son were accused of acts of “moral turpitude, dishonesty and corruption” in taking a $5.2-million legal fee for handling the case. The plaintiffs were led by Wyoming rancher Courtney Davis.

Both Aliotos have maintained they are innocent of the charges, the elder Alioto describing the affair last week as “a phony case. We’ll beat hell out of them.”

The ex-mayor called the case “nothing but a phony prosecution by beleaguered bureaucrats.” He accused the State Bar of unfairly singling the Aliotos out for improper motives.

The 73-year-old Alioto told Corse, testifying only for himself, that he had been told over the telephone by his son, a member of his firm, that the plaintiffs had been offered a $9-million fee in settlement.

Alioto said he advised his son to “take the money and run.” The former mayor repeated over and over to State Bar prosecutor Jerome Fishkin that although he owned the firm, he had not been involved in reaching the settlement or the fee.