The corruption trial of Bell’s former assistant administrator got a jolt Wednesday when prosecutors showed the jury a photo of her smoking a cigar while wearing a white bathrobe.

Prosecutors in the corruption case said Angela Spaccia — the second in command in the small city in southeast Los Angeles County city — sent the photo via text message to the city’s police chief, Randy Adams.

Adams, testifying for the first time in the Bell corruption trials, said the photo was a joke and that he had known Spaccia for more than 30 years, starting with when they worked together in Ventura.

“I did not socialize with her, that type of thing,” Adams testified.


“How many professional acquaintances send you a photo of them in a bathrobe?” asked Deputy Dist. Atty. Max Huntsman.

When Adams gave him a surprised look, Hunstman handed him a copy of the photo and put the image on an overhead projector so the jury could see it. The subject line of the email said, “a photo for my ID on your phone!!! LOL.”

“It’s a satirical type photo,” Adams told the jury. “Looks comical to me.”

Outside the courtroom, Spaccia said her boyfriend took the photo at his home in Laughlin, Nev.


Spaccia said Adams had called her on a work matter and asked what she was doing. She said she was in her bathrobe smoking a cigar and sent him the photo.

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jeff.gottlieb@latimes.com

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