Mike Capizzi and the Baugh Case

* Re Dana Parsons’ column of July 17, “Invoke the Statute of Limitations”:

I agree that Dist. Atty. Mike Capizzi should drop his fanatic pursuit of Assemblyman Scott Baugh (R-Huntington Beach). I found Parsons’ reasoning for this conclusion, however, less than compelling.

This case was a political stunt by a D.A. who was attempting to use his position as a steppingstone to state attorney general. Parsons apparently forgot that this case was originally thrown out when it was discovered that the D.A. deliberately hid exculpatory evidence and undermined the grand jury process just to get an indictment. The D.A.’s reaction? Outrage at this public reversal, followed by a clumsy effort to bully the judge responsible for dismissing the case.

When this attempt to pervert the system failed, the D.A. refiled all the charges anyway (but carefully avoided going back to the grand jury to do so). Most of these refiled charges were again thrown out, and now a third judge has confirmed what we knew all along: The D.A. has a substantial conflict of interest in pursuing this case, which was obviously politically motivated from the start.

I applaud Baugh’s willingness to stand up to the D.A., whose conduct in this case is truly frightening. The D.A. made up his mind to “get” Baugh and didn’t bother to let the facts get in the way of his efforts to obtain a high-profile conviction. The results of last month’s election speak for themselves.

The people of this county want a D.A. whose actions are motivated by the pursuit of justice, not aspirations for higher political office; one who weighs the facts of a case, not its headline value; and most especially, a D.A. who acts to uphold the integrity of the system, not one who undermines it to carry out personal vendettas or obtain political benefit.

GEOFFREY S. FEARNS

Brea