LOS ANGELES (CNS) - Prosecutors and defense attorneys in the federal corruption case involving ex-Los Angeles City Councilman Jose Huizar say they want to put off the trial until next year, according to court papers obtained today.
Citing concerns over COVID-19, attorney schedules and voluminous materials in the case, attorneys filed a stipulated agreement to set the Huizar trial on May 24, 2022. The proposed date requires the judge's approval.
Also, U.S. District Judge John F. Walter has rejected a defense bid to examine grand jury records used to indict the former councilman.
Huizar filed a motion in February to compel production of two categories of grand jury records: information regarding any modifications to prosecutors' pre-coronavirus grand-jury procedures for the case -- such as grand jurors appearing by video, witnesses wearing masks or testifying remotely -- and legal instructions that the U.S. Attorney's Office used to inform the grand jury regarding the counts charged in the indictment.
In his order Friday denying the motion, Walter wrote that Huizar failed to demonstrate any particular need for details about potential modifications to grand jury procedures in his case. Further, the judge determined that the former councilman failed to show that any legal instructions used by federal prosecutors before the grand jury “may have been misleading, let alone flagrantly misleading.''
Walter found that Huizar “relies on sheer speculation and fails to identify any valid basis for the court to presume that the grand jury was improperly instructed or otherwise presented with material omissions and/or false information.''
Huizar, the central figure in a six-year probe of suspected corruption in City Hall politics, is charged in a 41-count racketeering indictment alleging he accepted $1.5 million in bribes from developers in exchange for his support of downtown building projects.
The federal probe also ensnared political operatives, lobbyists and the former general manager of the Los Angeles Department of Building and Safety.
Huizar, who represented downtown L.A. and was the chairman of the Planning and Land Use Management Committee, has pleaded not guilty to the charges against him.
Prosecutors wrote that the government has produced almost 2 million pages of written reports, e-mails, third-party documents, and over 93,000 files of intercepted wire sessions, including audio and data files.
In addition, discovery materials include reports for over a dozen digital devices, over 260 hours of audio recordings in addition to intercepted wire sessions, data for over two dozen phones, GPS phone tracker data for multiple devices, and dozens of pleadings for wiretap applications, search warrants, cell site and GPS warrants, and other information.
Huizar is expected to face trial in Los Angeles federal court with several associates, including Raymond Chan, who was general manager of the Department of Building and Safety and, more recently, was the city's deputy mayor of economic development.
Photo: Getty Images
Copyright 2021, City News Service, Inc.