Hedgecock Committee Must Pay Fees for Suit Dropped by D.A.

Former San Diego Mayor Roger Hedgecock and his campaign committee must bear the costs of defending a lawsuit alleging civil violations of election rules in the 1983 mayoral campaign, even though the district attorney’s office dropped the suit, a state appellate court ruled Wednesday.

The decision by the 4th District Court of Appeal said the latest developments in the case, including Hedgecock’s conviction on related criminal charges and guilty pleas by three of his key campaign supporters, made it “impossible to conclude� that the civil suit was “frivolous, unreasonable or groundless.�

Defendants in the civil suit--Hedgecock, his campaign committee, committee treasurer Peter Q. Davis, and Tom Shepard, the campaign consultant who pleaded guilty to conspiracy charges related to the financing of the 1983 campaign--must pay about $38,000 to their attorneys under the court ruling.

The dispute stems from a suit filed by the district attorney’s office in May, 1984, just weeks before the 1984 mayoral election, alleging that Shepard’s consulting firm was used during the previous year’s campaign to funnel $375,000 in illegal contributions to Hedgecock’s committee.

The district attorney’s office dropped the suit in October, 1984, when a similar suit was filed by the state Fair Political Practices Commission. That suit is still pending.

Attorneys for Hedgecock and the other defendants argued that the dismissal meant they had prevailed in the district attorney’s suit and that they were thus eligible under state campaign laws to demand that the county pay legal fees for defending against the suit.

Superior Court Judge Alfred Lord, who has since retired, last year rejected the request for legal fees, but ordered the county to pay the defense’s nominal court costs in the case.

A three-judge panel of the appellate court upheld that decision Wednesday, ruling that it would discourage enforcement of the state Political Reform Act to regularly require its enforcers to pay their opponents’ legal fees.

“While we understand the financial burden a suit such as this can impose, in view of the fundamental need to enforce high standards of political ethics we do not believe it unfair to treat the price of defending against a reasonably grounded but ultimately unsuccessful allegation as a ‘cost of doing business’ in politics,� the court ruled.

Attorney John Wertz, who represented Hedgecock and the Roger Hedgecock for Mayor Committee in the case, said Wednesday that he would consult with the ex-mayor about whether the decision would be appealed to the California Supreme Court.

“We’re pleased we’re going to be entitled to collect the costs, but we’re disappointed regarding the fee issue,� Wertz said.