Politics the Poorer for Absence of Capizzi

The spiraling crash of former Dist. Atty. Mike Capizzi’s career has been sad to watch. His friends need to rally in support to help him resurrect it.

Capizzi, 60, lost a judicial election March 6 to one of his former employees. He didn’t just lose; he got pummeled. Voters treated him like he was some pesky gadfly.

Capizzi, no doubt licking his wounds, says he’s through with politics forever. I hope not. Because Capizzi would have made--and will someday make--a terrific judge.

Capizzi has made some political errors along the way, one a real bonehead. But his biggest mistake was having the audacity to take on his own Republican Party as district attorney.

That’s supposed to be a benchmark for the highest standards of a D.A. We’re supposed to want someone independent of political influence. But, sadly, that’s not the way the system works these days.

Capizzi paid the price for his independence. It hasn’t been fun to see.

When I first came here 20 years ago, Capizzi was the most powerful criminal attorney in Orange County. As then-Dist. Atty. Cecil Hicks’ protege, Capizzi rose to the highest level of influence within that office. But more than that, he was chalking up big courtroom victories as he took on the county’s political corruption. Three county supervisors and a congressman wound up convicted, along with a handful of major lobbyists and campaign contributors.

Not a bad set of credits for any lawyer’s resume.

When Hicks (no relation to this columnist) took a judgeship in January 1990, he made sure the D.A.’s job was locked up for Capizzi. Hicks got all five county supervisors on board first. I remember clearly that day, then-Supervisor Roger R. Stanton praising Capizzi’s integrity. (Stanton had defeated an incumbent supervisor Capizzi had gotten indicted.) Many years later, Stanton would change his tune when he himself became a Capizzi target over the county’s bankruptcy.

While Capizzi won praise for his hard work, he rubbed the wrong way some of his deputies who found him aloof or saw him as unfairly biased in handing out assignments. (Current Dist. Atty. Tony Rackauckas was held back from promotion and never forgot it.)

Not that the deputies were always right.

Take the plea-bargaining issue, for example. Capizzi fought judges, the defense bar and even his own attorneys to try to get most of the closed-door plea-bargaining sessions open to the public. That was so crime victims could see for themselves the process that resolved a defendant’s case. Capizzi eventually lost that fight. But I’m convinced that crime victims in this millennium will gain enough power to get such closed-door plea bargains thrown open.

Misguided Run for State Office

As for other complaints about the way the D.A.’s office was run, you probably had to work there to know for sure who was right or wrong. Capizzi had his ardent supporters too.

Capizzi handily won election in his own right the first time voters got a crack at him after his appointment by the county supervisors. And he kept on winning, even when highly popular Chief Deputy Jim Enright decided to challenge him.

But friends within the statewide district attorneys association helped convince Capizzi that he had a shot at attorney general in 1998. Huge mistake.

Capizzi didn’t have a wide enough base for a statewide campaign. But worse than that, he’d made too many Republican enemies with his attempt to prosecute Republican Assemblyman Scott Baugh and some of his pals for what Capizzi saw as campaign violations. He also went after some of the county supervisors, though unsuccessfully, over their role in the county bankruptcy.

Because his own D.A.’s race was the same year, Capizzi had to sacrifice his job for the ill-fated attempt at attorney general. Predictably, he got trounced.

So this year, with several judgeships up for grabs, Capizzi took his shot. But even his best friends warned him that with Republican leadership aligned against him, he’d have a tough time.

Whatever chance he might have had, he probably killed himself. His supporters sued his opponent, Stephanie George, trying to force her to use her married name on the ballot.

The case was swiftly tossed out of court, with the deciding judge stopping just short of calling the lawsuit ludicrous. The publicity over the case gave George a name recognition she would not have had with many voters.

But a stupid campaign move doesn’t disqualify someone from meriting a judgeship. It stirred me to red-faced anger when a local Bar Assn. committee tried to rank Capizzi as “unqualified” to run for judge. Anybody who believes he deserved that ranking probably isn’t fit to carry his briefcase. Fortunately, the bar’s executive board saw the idiocy of that and corrected it.

Whether or not you liked his management style, Capizzi’s record of accomplishment stands high. Even Rackauckas, a longtime Capizzi adversary, noted his predecessor’s contributions in his own inaugural speech.

Friends of Capizzi say that seeing his name knocked about in the media, even by political buffoons from the Republican’s right wing, has taken its toll on both Capizzi and his family. Some friends want to see Capizzi stay out of politics for his own peace of mind.

I have my own reasons for wanting to see him jump back in. My family and I live in this county. We want the best on the bench. I’ll take Mike Capizzi any day.

Jerry Hicks’ column appears Monday and Thursday. Readers may reach Hicks by calling (714) 966-7789 or by e-mail at jerry.hicks@latimes.com.