Court Keeps Case Against Aide to Baugh

SANTA ANA — A Superior Court judge Friday refused to void the voter fraud indictment of Assemblyman Scott Baugh’s chief of staff, who argued in court that she had a right to register to vote from an address where she never lived.

The aide, Maureen Werft, faces trial in September on two felony charges of registering and voting in last November’s special election in Orange County’s 67th Assembly District, though she was living and working in Sacramento at the time. Baugh, a Republican who hired Werft after he won the election to represent the Huntington Beach area, replaced renegade Republican Doris Allen in the Assembly.

Superior Court Judge James L. Smith said Friday that Werft had “absolutely no contact at all with the address” on Delaware Street in Huntington Beach from which she registered to vote--other than eating pizza there one night.

After dismissing four motions challenging the indictments, Smith reserved decision on two others, saying he has yet to receive copies of grand jury transcripts and other necessary material.

Werft’s lawyer, Doug Otto, argued Friday that Werft was entitled to vote in the 67th Assembly District election because she is a “longtime resident of Huntington Beach” who intended to move back there when she left her job with the Republican Senate caucus in Sacramento.

Werft, who did volunteer work during the recall campaign against Allen, registered to vote from the Delaware Street address in July 1995 and applied for an absentee ballot that October. She subsequently cast a ballot in the recall and Baugh Assembly race.

Otto said he did not know if he would appeal Smith’s ruling. “We are disappointed but undaunted,” he said.

A longtime GOP worker, Werft moved to Huntington Beach from Orange in September 1993 and ran for Huntington Beach City Council in 1994, according to voting records. Otto said Werft now lives in Huntington Beach, after residing for a period in Fullerton. She is registered to vote from an address in Fullerton and lists her occupation with Baugh as “staff hack,” according to registrar of voter records.

Rejecting the core argument made by Werft, Judge Smith said it “flies in the face of reason” that a voter would be permitted to register from an address where he or she had never lived. Smith agreed that Werft did have “substantial ties” to Orange County and to Huntington Beach, but said the law requires registration from “an existing or established domicile,” not an intention to move to an address.

Otherwise, he said, someone could declare an intention to move from Los Angeles to San Francisco, then vote in a San Francisco election.

Werft’s indictment grew from an investigation into a GOP ploy to plant a decoy Democrat in the 67th District Assembly race to ensure that a Republican would replace Allen.

The grand jury that indicted Werft in March also indicted Baugh on four felony and 18 misdemeanor counts in connection with alleged campaign finance irregularities during the 1995 campaign. It also indicted Rhonda Carmony, campaign manager for Rep. Dana Rohrabacher (R-Huntington Beach), on three felony charges related to the alleged recruitment of the spoiler candidate. Rohrabacher is Baugh’s political patron.

Smith reserved judgment on Werft’s contention that prosecutors engaged in misconduct before the grand jury. Otto contends prosecutors improperly acted as advocates for an indictment and failed to properly explain the voting statutes to the panel.

Otto has also filed a motion claiming Werft is a victim of a “discriminatory prosecution” designed, in part, to enhance the political reputation and ambitions of Orange County Dist. Atty. Michael R. Capizzi. Otto contends Werft was singled out because she told prosecutors she would testify on Baugh’s behalf.

Seeking proof of that claim, Otto is currently reviewing documents he subpoenaed from the registrar’s office. The material includes several hundred pages of correspondence between the registrar’s and the district attorney’s offices. The defense hopes to find numerous instances of improper voter registration that the district attorney never prosecuted as felonies.

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Moving Around

Maureen Werft is charged with two felonies for allegedly registering to vote and voting in the 67th Assembly District special election last November. Prosecutors allege she registered from an address in Huntington Beach where she had never lived. At the time, she was living and working in Sacramento, though she has lived in Orange County and Huntington Beach in the past. Werft’s paper trail:

1991

Aug. 28: Registers to vote from 1619 E. Bolingridge Drive, Orange

1993

Sept. 30: Registers to vote from 17300 Keelson Lane, Huntington Beach

1995

April 10: Rents apartment at 2340 American River Drive, Sacramento

June 29: Renews driver’s license at Sacramento address

July 17: Registers to vote from 2323 Delaware St., Huntington Beach

Aug. 20: Registers car at Sacramento address

Oct. 16: Applies for absentee ballot in recall special election at Delaware Street address in Huntington Beach

Nov. 6: Votes by absentee ballot in special election

(Nov. 28: Scott Baugh wins election to Assembly)

December: Becomes chief of staff to Baugh and moves back to Orange County

1996

Feb. 5: Registers to vote from 1600 block of East Grove Place in Fullerton

Source: Court documents and registrar of voters records

Los Angeles Times