Gilbert L Garcetti

Los Angeles County Dist. Atty. Gil Garcetti and the father of murder victim Polly Klaas called on Gov. Pete Wilson and the Legislature on Thursday to put an alternative "three strikes and you're out" proposal on the Nov. 2 ballot. But Wilson, who in March signed legislation identical to the "three strikes" ballot initiative that has already qualified, promptly announced that he would veto any such bill.

AUDIENCES and voters aren't that much different, which makes entertainment and politics insecure occupations. At the end of the day, all a person can really count on is the fact that they've kept faith with their convictions and their talent. And sometimes that talent is an unexpected one. That's what former Los Angeles County Dist. Atty. Gil Garcetti discovered when he found himself out of office in 2000, after serving two terms.

Call them malcontents or dismiss them as cranks. Cling hard to the notion their complaints are groundless. Even insist that everything they have to say is motivated by petty politics. Do all of those things and you've still got to wonder what is going on in the district attorney's office these days. One veteran prosecutor recently won a partial judgment in her personnel complaint against the office; all that remains is for a jury to decide how much money she should receive.

A city panel approved $1,500 in fines against Ethics Commission President Gil Garcetti on Tuesday, finding that he violated city rules by contributing to the campaign of his son, Council President Eric Garcetti. Because the commission enforces campaign laws, members are prohibited from contributing in city races.

Seething parents vented their anger at Dist. Atty. Gil Garcetti's child support office at a public hearing Thursday while businessmen said they could help the troubled agency to do a better job. A handful of employees in Garcetti's unit took the microphone to defend their office but were drowned out by a steady parade of mothers and fathers. "This operation is woefully inept," said Calvin Ray Murphy, who said that for 16 months he has received bills intended for another man with the same name.

David Conn's 18th-floor office at the Criminal Courts Building came complete with one of the few perks a prosecutor can afford, a swell view of the busy city below. And if anything testifies to the new place Dist. Atty. Gil Garcetti has assigned for Conn in the pecking order, it's the view from the courthouse in Norwalk, where Conn is being transferred. There, Conn will be able to take in a pancake house, a movie theater and a parking garage.

David Conn, who successfully prosecuted Lyle and Erik Menendez for murder but then had a public falling-out with Dist. Atty. Gil Garcetti, is being transferred to Norwalk. Conn, 46, an 18-year veteran of the prosecutor's office, said Friday he was notified recently that he will be moving from the elite major crimes division, located at headquarters in the Criminal Courts Building downtown, to suburban Norwalk, where he will be an ordinary trial deputy. The transfer is effective Feb. 3.

When Steve Cooley, who wants to be Los Angeles County's next district attorney, cranks into high gear on the campaign trail, he is almost certain to bring up "the Uzi killer of Calabasas." The phrase has a nice, alliterative ring to it, which Cooley uses to full effect: "the OOOZY KILLer of KAL-uh-BASS-us." It refers to an especially chilling murder case that, Cooley says, typifies the failure of his opponent, incumbent Gil Garcetti, to turn his rhetorical support for gun control into action.

Did Gil Garcetti ever have a chance? Under other circumstances, it might be an odd question to ask about a charismatic, savvy district attorney who had the support of virtually the entire Los Angeles County political establishment in his bid for a third term. But after Steve Cooley's landslide victory Tuesday, Garcetti's political advisors have been left wondering if there was anything they could have done to win. The answer: probably not, short of finding a new candidate.

In broad daylight a gunman fired from close range at a stranded motorist, hitting him once in the back. The suspect, already with a violent criminal past, was later located in the alleged getaway car. A search of the automobile turned up a loaded semiautomatic pistol under the driver's seat.

Shouldn't the president of the Los Angeles Ethics Commission, of all people, abide by the panel's rules for campaign giving? A city enforcement officer thought so Monday, recommending that Ethics Commission President Gil Garcetti face triple the normal fine for making an improper political contribution to his son, City Council President Eric Garcetti.

As president of the Los Angeles Ethics Commission, Gil Garcetti sits in judgment of those accused of violating the city's campaign finance laws. As the father of an aspiring young politician, it was perhaps only natural that Garcetti, a former Los Angeles County district attorney, would contribute to the reelection campaign of his son, Councilman Eric Garcetti. Except for one little detail: The City Charter prohibits ethics commissioners from donating to candidates in municipal elections.

They are at opposite ends of the "artistic" spectrum but equally passionate, creative in the face of adversity and overwhelmingly talented, and they launched my second career as a photographer. The first were the ironworkers at Walt Disney Concert Hall, whom I began photographing shortly after leaving office as Los Angeles County district attorney. Their athleticism and skill on a project that seemed impossible astounded me.

Scott Fitzgerald's famous observation that American lives have no second acts never really applied in Los Angeles. But even here, the curtain seldom has risen on a shift quite as abrupt as that made by former Dist. Atty. Gil Garcetti. His forthcoming book--"Iron: Erecting the Walt Disney Concert Hall"--signals his emergence not only as an accomplished architectural photographer, but also as an artist with a deeply empathetic connection to working men and women.

The Los Angeles City Council unanimously confirmed former L.A. County Dist. Atty. Gil Garcetti on Tuesday as the first elected official to serve on the city's 11-year-old Ethics Commission. During Garcetti's appearance before the City Council, on which his son is a member, Councilman Nate Holden strongly denounced the Ethics Commission as racist.

Los Angeles City Council President Alex Padilla named former Los Angeles County district attorney Gil Garcetti to the city Ethics Commission, saying that his political and prosecutorial experience would be an asset to the panel. Garcetti, who lost a reelection bid for district attorney in 2000, said he looks forward to serving on the panel. As a commissioner, he would weigh the ethics of any action involving Los Angeles' elected officials, one of whom is his son.

After days of contentious negotiations, Los Angeles County Dist. Atty. Gil Garcetti on Friday gave the public defender and the Indigent Defense Panel 3,242 pages of transcribed interviews with ex-Officer Rafael Perez and the names of 28 LAPD officers implicated in crimes or misconduct connected to the ongoing Rampart corruption scandal, four of whom remain on active duty.

Less than a week before the election for Los Angeles County district attorney, one wild card remains: a mysterious memo written by a deputy district attorney in 1997 that appears to have sounded an alarm on the Rampart police scandal more than a year before it was uncovered. The memo, by Deputy Dist. Atty. Michael Kraut, has never been made public.

Los Angeles City Council President Alex Padilla named former Los Angeles County district attorney Gil Garcetti to the city Ethics Commission on Wednesday, saying that his political and prosecutorial experience would be an asset to the watchdog panel. Garcetti, who lost a reelection bid for district attorney in 2000, said he looks forward to serving on the panel.