Brett Kelman

The Desert Sun

The State Bar of California has launched disciplinary proceedings against former Riverside County District Attorney Paul Zellerbach, who could be disbarred or suspended from practicing law because he vandalized campaign signs of a political rival two years ago.

Zellerbach was caught on camera taking down signs for Mike Hestrin, who ultimately unseated Zellerbach as the county’s top prosecutor, in April 2014. Zellerbach pleaded no contest to misdemeanor vandalism last January, and was sentenced to one year of probation.

READ MORE: Zellerbach pleads no contest to sign tampering

The conviction prompted the prosecution wing of the State Bar to launch a disciplinary case against Zellerbach, questioning if his conviction was serious enough to prompt some sort of sanction. Zellerbach said he is in negotiations with State Bar prosecutors and is confident he will resolve the case without being suspended or disbarred.

"That will not happen," Zellerbach said. He declined to comment further on the case.

Since Zellerbach's conviction is no longer in dispute, the case boils down to whether or not his crime is one of “moral turpitude,” which is a legal standard for behavior that violates community standards of good morals.

Zellerbach has said in court documents that his conviction does not meet this standard, however, according to guidelines published by the U.S. State Department, destruction of property can be considered a crime of moral turpitude if the vandal has "malicious" intent.

State Bar spokeswoman Laura Ernde said a conviction for a crime of moral turpitude is one of the “more serious offenses” handled in these kinds of proceedings.

The next hearing in Zellerbach's case is set for Sept. 6 in Los Angeles.

Zellerbach was filmed removing a Hestrin sign on April 23, 2014 by a security camera at an Arco gas station on Jefferson Street on Indio. The footage was investigated by the Indio Police Department, which recommended charges to the California Attorney General's office. Afterwards, Sheriff Stan Sniff and several police chiefs also pulled their endorsements of Zellerbach, paving the way for Hestrin to win the election with a commanding lead.

Zellerbach, a former county judge who led the DA’s office from 2010 to 2014, recently made headlines when a Riverside judge issued a warrant for his arrest after he did not show up for a court hearing to testify about wiretaps. Judge Michele Levine issued a bench warrant but ordered the warrant “held,” which means it won’t actually be sent to police unless Zellerbach misses another hearing on Sept. 30.

Warrant for former DA Paul Zellerbach in wiretap case

Zellerbach said the warrant was issued in error because the judge was misled. The former DA said he told another attorney in the wiretap case that he could not attend the hearing due to a conflict, but that attorney did not pass on the message to the judge. The defense attorney, Jan Ronis, denied that Zellerbach ever told him he was unavailable.

Ronis had subpoenaed Zellerbach to question him about a wiretap requested by his administration, which oversaw an astronomical rise in eavesdropping, mostly at the behest of the Drug Enforcement Administration. In 2014, at the request of Zellerbach’s office, a Riverside judge approved 624 wiretaps – three times as many as any other state or federal court.

Judge: So many Riverside wiretaps, they can't be legal

The widespread wiretapping, revealed last year in an investigation by The USA TODAY Network, faced significant questions about its legality. Justice Department lawyers had repeatedly warned agents they were unwilling to use the wiretap evidence in court because they believed the taps could not withstand a legal challenge. And Zellerbach had delegated the duty of approving wiretap applications to lower-level prosecutors, despite a federal law that required him to do it himself.

Reporter Brett Kelman can be reached at 760 778 4642 or by email at brett.kelman@desertsun.com. You can also follow him on Twitter at @TDSbrettkelman.