'I Didn't Place Election-Year Comfort Above Duty'

Now it's Bill Lockyer's turn at the defense table. The former California attorney general is firing back at critics who say he unfairly prosecuted cancer victim Patricia C. Dunn, the former chairwoman of Hewlett-Packard Co., in the state's "pretexting case."

Dunn, who suffers from ovarian cancer, was cleared of all charges last week and her three co-defendants each pleaded no contest to a single misdemeanor count of illegal wiretapping.

Roger Parloff on CNNMoney called Lockyer's prosecution "ghoulish." He wrote that, "California had no law specifically aimed at telephone 'pretexting,' as the practice has come to be called, until Sept. 29, 2006, long after the events at issue had occurred. When that law finally was enacted, it was a misdemeanor. Nevertheless, Lockyer charged each defendant with four felonies under preexisting laws that he theorized could be applied to this situation, though none ever previously had been."

Lockyer, now state treasurer, said the case was "not cobbled together. It rested on a solid foundation of evidence and state laws." His full response is after the jump. (Photo: Justin Sullivan / Getty Images)

HP Case: Who Screwed Up?

It was not the best moment for the California Attorney General's office yesterday. The high-profile case against former Hewlett-Packard Co. Chairwoman Patricia C. Dunn ended with a whimper, the Times reports today.

The charges against Dunn and three others involved spying on reporters and wiretapping, and led to a congressional hearing and a new state law on privacy. But Dunn was cleared of all charges Wednesday, and her three co-defendants each pleaded no contest to a single misdemeanor count of illegal wiretapping.

Both Attorney General Jerry Brown and former A.G. Bill Lockyer get some blame today, on different counts.

The Wall Street Journal excoriates Lockyer, now the state treasurer, for bringing the case in the first place: "Lockyer saw a way to grab a share of the case's publicity frenzy during an election year and threw felony raps at Ms. Dunn and three co-defendants. Mr. Lockyer betrayed the state of his own wisdom by going on national TV and saying 'crimes have been committed' even before any charges were filed. Yesterday's result should embarrass Mr. Lockyer, if he is capable of embarrassment."

Ouch.

Brown (pictured with his wife and senior advisor, Anne Gust) is praised for whittling the case down, but he made a definitive mistake yesterday. His office issued a press release Wednesday morning saying Dunn would plead guilty to a misdemeanor. Not true. Her case was simply dropped. HP issued a statement saying the "attorney general and the court have fashioned a most appropriate resolution of this case." But as LegalNewsline writes: "Only one of them, it seems, knew what it was beforehand."

(Photos: Paul Sakuma / AP; Steve Yeater / AP )

Futurist, Script Consultant on 'Sneakers' At Lockyer Inaugural

California Atty. Gen. Bill Lockyer, who is being sworn in today as state treasurer, is a science fiction buff and voracious reader. When I was interviewing him a few years back, he had a paper grocery bag on his desk filled with books for Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger.

"Futurist" Peter Schwartz, chairman of the Global Business Network and former corporate "scenario planner" for Royal Dutch Shell, will serve as the keynote speaker at Lockyer's inauguration ceremony today. Schwartz, from Berkeley, claims to "create alternative perspectives of the future and develop robust strategies for a changing and uncertain world." He also served as a script consultant on the "The Minority Report," "Deep Impact," "Sneakers" and "War Games."

Oakland Mayor Jerry Brown is sworn in today at San Francisco City Hall as the new California attorney general. Secretary of State Debra Bowen and Controller John Chiang take oaths today in Sacramento, and Insurance Commissioner Steve Poizner will be sworn in at a museum in San Jose. State schools chief Jack O'Connell and Lt. Gov. John Garamendi, the former insurance commissioner, took the oath Sunday in Sacramento. In the photo, Garamendi swings granddaughter Emma Alliende, 2, outside the state Senate chambers

(Photo: Jamie Rector / AP; Rich Pedroncelli / AP)

Claude Parrish, Part 2: "Here, Jonathan, Rub My Shoulders."

Today, in our continuing series on God's gift to California politics, Political Muscle brings you the story of Jonathan N. Harris and Board of Equalization member Claude W. Parrish.

Colleague Evan Halper passed along this gem about Parrish, Republican candidate for state treasurer, which is based entirely on a scene in Parrish's government office on April 26. The events are replayed in delicious detail in a workers' compensation claim filed by Harris, an administrative assistant in the office, and by a "Threat Assessment Report" produced by security at the Board of Equalization.

The scene begins with chief deputy Marcus Frishman, Harris and a frustrated Parrish complaining about "all these events that people want me to attend." He warns Harris that nobody represents Mr. Claude W. Parrish at public events.

"Look Mr. Harris, the last person who wanted to go out in the field is no longer here. Do you understand what I am telling you?"

"Yes, sir. You are the board member."

"Yes, I am and don't forget that."

They then turn to discussing a constituent's problem concerning a Social Security card. Harris says he has kept his original Social Security card, and this fact somehow excites the boss. Here is the rest of the scene, according to Harris' account in the documents:

"At this point, Mr. Parrish looked down on me with wild eyes, grabbed me by the shoulders with his thumbs on my clavicle and his fingers over my shoulders and said, 'I have my original psychiatric release papers. Can you believe that?'

"While saying this, he starting pulling me into him and started rocking me back and forth. He then pushed me so hard that I flew backwards off my feet approximately two to three feet into the wall, hitting the thermostat. I did not stumble backwards. I was actually lifted off my feet by the force.

"Shocked and in disbelief, I exclaimed, 'Ouch, you hurt me!'

"Marcus asked, 'Jonathan, are you OK?'

"I replied, 'No, he really hurt me!'

"Marcus then said, 'Too bad you can't give yourself a back massage.'

"Marcus then said, 'Mr. Parrish, Jonathan gives great back massages.'

"Mr. Parrish then sat in the far chair next to the window in Marcus's office and said, 'Here, Jonathan, rub my shoulders.'

"Feeling forced to comply with Mr. Parrish's orders, I placed my hands on his shoulders. At that point, I felt a sharp pain radiating down my back.

"I said, 'This is stupid, you really hurt me.' I immediately withdrew my hands.

"Mr. Parrish said, 'What are you going to do? File a workers' compensation complaint or sue me? This is great. I'm not taking this.' He then started to leave Marcus's office."

Harris did, indeed, file a workers' compensation claim but not a lawsuit. We tried to reach Mr. Parrish, and he has not answered e-mails and phone calls. Frishman declined to comment on the facts of the case.

On June 20, the chief of the Board's internal security and audit division wrote a "Threat Assessment Report" of the incident. She cleared Parrish. The report stated: "It remains unclear if Mr. Parrish pushed Mr. Harris, or if Mr. Harris backed away into the thermostat. Based on witness statements, it appears the incident took place during a brief episode of innocent fun related to the subject matter under discussion at the time.... We do not believe Mr. Parrish poses a threat of physical harm to BOE employees."

It should be noted that after the alleged incident, Parrish turned to Harris and said, according to his statement: "You have been working really hard. You should go home 10 minutes early."

(Photo: AP)

Claude Parrish and the Repo Man

Oh, Claude Parrish, we thank the gods for thee. The campaign for state treasurer wouldn't be the same without you.

Back in the go-go '80s, when he was living large as the owner of the Dipsy Doodle Soft Serve Ice Cream Co., Claude W. Parrish decided to reward himself with a Mercedes-Benz SL380 Roadster, leased for $784.50 per month. And why not? A man's gotta live.

About 15 months after signing the lease, Parrish allegedly stopped making payments on this fine automobile. That's when the trouble began.

My colleague Evan Halper has come across some pretty juicy court records from 1983 about Parrish, the state Board of Equalization member from Southern California. Republican Parrish now is running against Democrat Bill Lockyer for the privilege of managing the billions of dollars that California keeps in the bank and Wall Street.

When the Mercedes bill went unpaid, the Brittingham Leasing Corp. hired a repo service and a detective agency (the Cheap Detective Agency, according to the court records) to retrieve the car from Parrish. It took a lot more work than they thought, records show. They said:

• "Mr. Parrish has eluded repossession by driving the vehicle at high speeds and in a negligent manner...both through residential and commercial areas and on surface streets and freeways;"
• "Mr. Parrish removed the original license plate from his vehicle;"
• "Mr. Parrish is receiving help from friends and neighbors by the use of walkie-talkies and telephones in his attempts to avoid repossession;
• "Mr. Parrish hides the car and takes the bus to work, therefore making repossession attempts futile, and has secreted the vehicle in remote locations.

Louis G. Brittingham wrote in an affidavit that he started receiving calls, first from an anonymous man and then from someone calling himself "Eric Jones."

"The caller stated that if I did not stop my attempts to get the car back, I would get hurt and similar threats were also made against my wife. At the time, the vehicle in Claude Parrish's possession was the only one I was attempting to repossess and I therefore believe that the caller was in fact Claude Parrish."

D'oh!

It's unclear what happened to the car in the end. We called Parrish for comment and sure hope he — or Eric Jones — calls back to explain. Stay tuned for more Claude Parrish adventures.

(Photo: AP)