Former Riverside County DA Admits Vandalism

By PAUL J. YOUNG, City News Service:

Former Riverside County District Attorney Paul Zellerbach pleaded no contest to misdemeanor vandalism for tearing down campaign signs belonging to his opponent in the D.A.’s race last June and was sentenced to 12 months probation, court records obtained Thursday show.

The plea was entered before Superior Court Judge Becky Dugan at the Riverside Hall of Justice in a hearing apparently convened spur of the moment on Wednesday.

The case was handled by the California Attorney General’s Office, which provided no advance notice that a criminal complaint against the former D.A. was forthcoming.

Agency spokesman David Beltran suggested the clandestine nature of the hearing was preferred by the court.

“We didn’t make it public yesterday because the court wasn’t going to make this public until today,” Beltran told City News Service.

Calls seeking comment from the court’s executive office were not immediately returned.

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Because it was a misdemeanor case, Zellerbach was not required to be present for the Wednesday arraignment. His attorney, Virginia Blumenthal, entered his plea for him.

Blumenthal, whose firm is under contract with the county to provide indigent defense services whenever the Office of the Public Defender is unable, declined to say when she was retained by the former D.A., who left office Dec. 30.

Blumenthal also would not comment on the plea agreement with state prosecutors, the length or timing of negotiations.

In addition to a year’s probation, Zellerbach was ordered to complete 60 hours community service and pay $1,075 in penalties and fines.

The Indio Police Department submitted a request for charges against Zellerbach last May 20. The case was filed directly with the AG’s office to avoid conflicts. Detectives had sought felony charges of embezzlement and misappropriation of public funds, as well as misdemeanor charges of trespassing, vandalism and petty theft.

The allegations stemmed from two separate incidents last April 23. In the first, Zellerbach was seen knocking down a large campaign sign belonging to his opponent -- now-District Attorney Mike Hestrin -- at the intersection of Indio Boulevard and Jefferson Street.

In the second instance, Zellerbach plucked three small Hestrin signs from a roadside location a couple of blocks away, tossing the signs into the county-owned Ford Escape SUV he was driving.

The county’s top prosecutor called the first incident an “accident” and told reporters that he took down the other signs after he was given permission by the property owner to erect his own.

Two days later, Zellerbach wrote a $203 personal check to the county as reimbursement for using the county vehicle to conduct political activity, on county time, while purportedly on official business.

Zellerbach was also allegedly using the services of one of his executives in the D.A.’s office to place signs that day.