Judge Picked to Hear GOP Aide’s Motion

SANTA ANA — Superior Court Judge Frank F. Fasel has been chosen to decide whether the Orange County district attorney’s office should be disqualified from prosecuting GOP political aide Rhonda J. Carmony, who faces trial on charges of election law violations.

Carmony’s trial, which was set to begin Monday, was delayed after Superior Court Judge David O. Carter disqualified himself last week from handling any further matters involving Carmony’s case.

Carmony, the former campaign manager and now fiancee of Rep. Dana Rohrabacher (R-Huntington Beach), is charged with three felonies for allegedly orchestrating a scheme to put a decoy Democratic candidate on the ballot in a 1995 special election, using petitions that prosecutors contend were improperly and fraudulently certified.

Republican Scott Baugh of Huntington Beach, another Rohrabacher protege, won election to the 67th Assembly District seat, and he too faces different felony charges in connection with the election.

Both Baugh and Carmony have denied any wrongdoing.

On Monday, Presiding Superior Court Judge Theodore E. Millard picked Fasel to hear Carmony’s motion that Dist. Atty. Michael R. Capizzi’s office be disqualified from prosecuting her case, which she argues should be passed to the state attorney general’s office.

On Monday, Fasel told lawyers in the case that he could hear arguments next Monday at the earliest.

A similar recusal motion filed by Baugh’s attorneys will be argued Friday in Municipal Court.

The appointment of a new Superior Court judge to hear the recusal motion became necessary when Carter removed himself from the case.

Before announcing his decision, Carter rebuked prosecutors for raising a 13-year-old incident that they presented as a possible conflict of interest for Superior Court Judge James L. Smith, who was assigned to preside over Carmony’s trial.