DA Drops Feinstein Case; Concludes no Wrongdoing

By Jorge Casuso

Oct. 30 -- The District Attorney will not file charges against Councilman Michael Feinstein after concluding that the $10,000 in Green Party Funds the former mayor allegedly embezzled was used to pay party expenses.

The DA's findings clears Feinstein of allegations that have been clouding his political career for more than two years and have embroiled the Green Party -- both at the county and state levels -- in a controversy that has split its ranks and sidetracked it from its agenda.

"We would not be able to meet our burden of prosecution, and absence further evidence presented to us, the matter is closed," said Sandie Gibbons, the spokesperson for the DA.

"We found (the money) was used to pay for rental space for the Green Party, and the Green Party occupied the space," Gibbons said. "There is no evidence that (Feinstein) did it for his own personal use, and that's what you need to prove embezzlement."

Feinstein has all along contended that the money donated by party member Bill Pietz in January 2001 was used to rent and operate the Green Party office at 2809 Pico Boulevard that he opened in 1999 with the blessing of the State Green Party. He told The Lookout he was "thankful" the "unnecessary diversion" was over.

"I'm thankful that this unnecessary diversion of public funds and community attention is over," Feinstein said. "We had to take eight months to confirm what almost everyone in the Green Party already knew -- that I didn't steal anything.

"In particular, I would like to thank the dozens, if not hundreds, of Santa Monica residents across political lines who went out of their way to let me know that these accusations were nonsense," Feinstein said.

Police Chief James T. Butts, Jr. -- whose department investigated the case and routinely passed it on to the DA -- said the allegations failed to meet the criteria for embezzlement.

Although "trust and confidence existed" between the parties and Feinstein accepted property from the other person, there was no "specific intent to deprive the person of the property," Butts said.

"We conducted a very thorough and impartial investigation, and it is my opinion that the councilman did not commit a theft or embezzlement," Butts said.

Butts also noted that Bob Morris, the former treasurer for the County Green Party who took the case to police, waited 25 months after the check had been cashed to file a report.

"From my perspective, the DA's opinion was that there was not a timely reporting to law enforcement and by holding meetings (in the space rented with the money), they validated the use of the funding for Green Party purposes" Butts said.

Morris, who filed the police report in March, told the Santa Monica Police Department's Audit and Inspection Unit that Pietz donated the $10,000 check to conduct Green Party of Los Angeles County (GPLAC) "business."

The business, Morris said, included "voter registration, printing pamphlets and brochures, and funding for candidate searches," according to the affidavit file by police.

Instead, Morris said, the money was used to fund the office on Pico, which "was not solely a GPLAC enterprise," but was used "for a variety of interests and organizations affiliated with or supported by Councilperson Feinstein," according to the affidavit.

But Gibbons said the DA found that Pietz "placed no express limitations on how to use the money" and that Feinstein drew out $16,687 made out to Barrios Unidos to pay rent for the Pico storefront.

"According to the evidence, the Green party actually used that space," Gibbons said.

Morris has said he filed the case after finding that under state law a treasurer must account for money raised in the name of the organization. Feinstein, Morris noted, had ignored repeated requests to turn over records from the Green Party account the former mayor had opened in his name with the blessing of the state party.

“It needed to be done,” he told the Lookout earlier this year.

Morris also filed a complaint with the Fair Political Practices Commission, which is currently investigating the civil case. The state agency, which regulates campaign funding, does not comment on pending cases.

In a statement issued Thursday, Feinstein's attorney, Glen Franklin Koontz, called the investigation a "sordid affair" that " resulted from the impetuous and ill-advised actions of individuals acting out of both ignorance and a malicious desire to harm Mr. Feinstein due to differences in political philosophy.

"At no time did Mr. Feinstein act inappropriately, and there was never any basis for the false charges levied against him by Mr. Robert Morris, and fueled in the press and the public by 'anonymous sources,'” Koontz wrote. "Indeed, the District Attorney’s Office’s actions in closing its investigation confirm that fact.

"Mr. Feinstein looks forward to putting this sordid affair behind him. As in the past, Mr. Feinstein is committed to actively advancing the Green Party’s issues and agenda, so as to improve society’s conditions for all people.

"Hopefully, the future will bring forth an era of discussion and public debate, and an end to the politics of personal destruction practiced by an unfortunate few," Koontz concluded.

For an in-depth account visit the five-part series in The Lookout.