What’s in a Name--or Two? Nothing, D.A.’s Office Decides

The Orange County district attorney’s office has cleared Tustin City Council candidate Jim Scott of wrongdoing in connection with the candidate’s previous use of another name.

Scott, formerly E. H. Winchester Jr., said he changed his name 15 years ago and has not been using two names at once.

Deputy Dist. Atty. Carl Armbrust said Monday, “We didn’t find any evidence sufficient to support a prosecution.” Tustin Police Chief Charles H. Thayer had requested last month that the district attorney’s office investigate the matter.

Scott accused Thayer of attempting to undermine his council bid because he had criticized the police chief. He said the controversy began when a Tustin policeman ticketed him last January for having non-working brake lights on his truck. Scott had discarded his driver’s license because it had his old name on it, he said, but added that he gave the policeman a driver’s license number and told him that the number was under the Winchester name.

Thayer said the case came to his attention after Scott paid for his traffic violation with a check from an account under the Scott name. That conflicted with the Winchester name that was assigned to the driver’s license number.

Thayer did not raise the issue until mid-March, after Scott became a council candidate.

Scott predicted that eventually he will have enough council votes to have Thayer fired. Thayer said Monday: “Let’s just drop it. I don’t think there’s anything to be gained by pursuing this further.”

Thayer denied that he had acted against Scott for political reasons. “I’ve got better and more important things to do,” he said.