PAGE ONE (SACRAMENTO) State Won't Probe PepperSpray Case

Lungren declines a 2nd review

Greg Lucas, Chronicle Sacramento Bureau

Sacramento

Dodging a political hot potato, Attorney General Dan Lungren said yesterday
he will not launch a state investigation into Humboldt County sheriff's
deputies swabbing the eyes of antilogging protesters with pepper spray.

Lungren, a GOP candidate for governor, was asked Monday by the state
senator representing the area to determine whether the use of pepper spray
by the deputies was proper.

Through a spokesman, Lungren said no state inquiry was needed because the
FBI is already interviewing Humboldt County authorities to see if the
protesters' civil rights were violated.

``We don't duplicate investigations, and the federal government has
announced an investigation, so there is no need for this office to get
involved,'' said Rob Stutzman, Lungren's press secretary.

Politically, it could be a problem for the conservative lawand order
Lungren to throw himself into the middle of a highprofile case pitting
environmentalists against law enforcement officials.

But critics said yesterday that Lungren's decision was nothing more than an
attempt at political cover.

``The attorney general can investigate Corcoran prison. He can go into San
Francisco and raid that pot club, but when you see little girls say,
`Please don't do it, please don't do it,' and then the cops do it, he can't
be bothered,'' said state Senator John Burton, DSan Francisco.

``The attorney general likes to pick and choose when he thinks laws are
being broken. Last time I checked, his job is to investigate all instances
of malfeasance,'' Burton added.

Last year Lungren twice launched state probes in highprofile cases already
under investigation or previously investigated by the federal government:
Allegations of inmate abuse at Corcoran State Prison and marijuana sales at
the Cannabis Buyers Club in San Francisco.

Neither of those cases had the political downside for Lungren of getting
involved in the inquiry into the propriety of the Humboldt protesters being
swabbed in the eyes with pepper spray a product Lungren stumped hard to
legalize in California.

The immobile demonstrators were swabbed by law enforcement officers a
strong base of political support for Lungren in the office of a
Republican congressman who called for their swift removal.

Opening an investigation would raise questions about Lungren advocacy of
unfettered use of pepper spray as well as challenge the reputation of the
congressman, Representative Frank Riggs, RWindsor.

In the Corcoran case, the Wilson administration was under increased
criticism for not getting to the bottom of allegations of prisoner abuse.

Lungren announced a state investigation into accusations that guards were
staging ``gladiator fights between inmates'' last November three years
after a U.S. Department of Justice probe was begun.

In doing so, his department became the fourth entity investigating the
case, joining federal agents, the Kings County Grand Jury and the state
Department of Corrections.

Stutzman said yesterday the state was examining different allegations
involving Corcoran State Prison than those being reviewed by federal
authorities.

The Cannabis Buyers Club case gave Lungren a chance to polish his
toughoncrime reputation by stamping out sales of illegal drugs and
reinforce his opposition to Proposition 215, which makes it easier for
persons to buy marijuana for medicinal purposes.

The proposition was approved by voters last November.

Lungren got involved after federal authorities conducted an extensive probe
of marijuana sales at the club but declined to prosecute the case.

Then Lungren opened his own probe, gathered much the same evidence and
finally raided the club in August 1996.

Lungren was asked Monday in a letter from state Senator Mike Thompson,
DSt. Helena, to investigate whether the Humboldt County sheriff's
deputies' use of pepper spray on the demonstrators was appropriate.

``I am also requesting your assistance in reviewing current state
guidelines for the use of pepper spray as well as the need for a uniform
curriculum to better train local law enforcement in responding to
nonviolent acts of civil disobedience,'' Thompson wrote.

Stutzman said the ``proper use of pepper spray is determined by local
departments.''

Adding to the politically charged pepper spray controversy, Thompson is
running for Congress against Windsor, whose office was occupied by the
protesters.

Riggs was quoted as describing the protesters as ``reckless, wanton
lawbreakers'' who were anything but peaceful.

The snippets of videotape of the officers rubbing the pepper spray into the
eyes of the protesters shows the protesters immobile, their arms fastened
to each other with metal sleeves.

Stutzman said Lungren had no position on whether the officers acted properly.

``(Lungren) has not thoroughly reviewed the circumstances of the protest,''
Stutzman said.

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