Hernandez File Paints a Disturbing Portrait

Arrest: Councilman bought drugs on eight occasions
while under surveillance, according to police affidavit.
By JIM NEWTON, JOSH MEYER, Times Staff Writers
 

On eight occasions over a 14day period, police officers
tailed City Councilman Mike Hernandez and watched, at
least once with a video camera rolling, as he allegedly
bought cocaine, then traveled either to City Hall or to the
Arcadia apartment of a member of his staff, where he was
suspected of consuming the drug, according to police property
reports and a search warrant affidavit filed Wednesday.
     Those documents paint a disturbing portrait of the
councilman, who was arrested last week on suspicion of
cocaine possession and has since been in a local drug
rehabilitation clinic, seeking treatment for what his staff
refers to as his "illness."
     At the time of his arrest, Hernandez was carrying
cocaine, marijuana, marijuana cigarettes, a metal pipe and
"plastic tubes used to ingest cocaine," the property report
accompanying the search warrant states. The documents filed
Wednesday include the unsealed portion of the request for
search warrants. More documents were filed under seal, but
authorities would not discuss them.
     According to the affidavit filed in connection with the
case, Hernandez was watched by officers eight times between
July 24 and Aug. 6. Their surveillance began after the Los
Angeles Police Department had turned the case over to L.A.
IMPACT, a littleknown task force of local law enforcement
agencies that specializes in narcotics enforcement.
     The affidavit states that, as officers watched,
Hernandez often filled up his car at the LAPD's central gas
station and then headed out to attend community meetings and
other functions. According to the affidavit, on "each and
every" one of the eight occasions, Hernandez purchased
cocaine. On one occasion he was videotaped appearing to
consume cocaine in his car, the affidavit states. In each
instance, it added, Hernandez was believed to have taken the
cocaine either to his City Hall office or to his aide's
apartment.
     "Michael Hernandez is presently engaged in the ongoing
purchase and consumption of cocaine," the affidavit states,
adding that he was believed to be buying it at one of two
locations, then taking it back to his private office or the
apartment of a staff member, identified as Pauline Mendoza,
in order to consume it. The affidavit does not make clear
whether Mendoza was home on the occasions that Hernandez
allegedly went to her apartment. Mendoza, a case worker who
handles constituent issues in the councilman's Lincoln
Heights field office, has not been arrested, and authorities
said she is not a target of the investigation.
     On one occasion, officers followed Hernandez as he drove
to a Pacoima apartment complex, arriving just after 9 p.m. on
Aug. 4. According to the affidavit, Hernandez left after
about 25 minutes and drove to a 7Eleven, followed by a
detective.
     "While inside the 7Eleven market, [the detective]
observed Michael Hernandez to appear very nervous and
agitated while speaking to the cashier," the affidavit
states. "He observed Michael Hernandez speaking to the
cashier in such a rapid manner that it caused the cashier to
ask Michael Hernandez several times to repeat what he
wanted." The detective "also noticed that Michael Hernandez
was profusely sweating, especially around the back of his
neck where his hair appeared to be very wet."
     From there, officers tailed Hernandez to Mendoza's
apartment, where according to the affidavit, the councilman
remained when the surveillance was broken off at 11 p.m.
     Two days later, officers again watched as Hernandez
visited the same Pacoima apartment and emerged with a bindle
"very consistent with the appearance and method used to
package cocaine for street sales and personal use." According
to the affidavit, Hernandez then sat in his car for several
minutes and appeared to snort the cocaine as a police video
camera recorded the scene.
     Immediately after allegedly consuming the cocaine in his
car, Hernandez drove away, spoke at a community function, and
filled up his car at the LAPD's central gas station, located
on 6th Street downtown, where many city officials get gas for
free. Hernandez then returned to City Hall, where he remained
at 10 p.m., when the surveillance ended for the night, the
affidavit said.
     Based on those and other observations, authorities were
given permission to search Hernandez's office, Mendoza's
apartment, the residences of two men accused of selling the
councilman cocaine and a fifth location alleged to be the
place where one of those suspected drug dealers got his
supply of cocaine.
     When they searched Hernandez's office, officers found
not only cocaine residue on his desk, but also marijuana,
drug paraphernalia and a Rolodex card with the name of one of
the men accused of selling him cocaine, the property report
said. In addition, the report indicates that officers found a
pocketknife and one of Hernandez's business cards, both
dusted with cocaine residue.
     Asked to comment on the information contained in the
material filed Wednesday, Jim Christian, senior agent in
charge of L.A. IMPACT, responded: "I think it speaks for
itself. I would think it's disappointing."
     That evidence forms the basis of the case against
Hernandez, a councilman with a oncepromising political
career now deeply in peril. Hernandez has retained criminal
lawyer Charles English to represent him. English was at court
Wednesday and unavailable for comment.
     Until last week, Hernandez was considered a promising,
if sometimes erratic, member of the Los Angeles City Council.
He represents the city's mainly Latino neighborhoods just
west of the Harbor Freeway, and has been one of the council's
most outspoken liberal voices.
     Now suddenly, for Hernandez, every aspect of the future
is uncertain: His health is in the hands of a rehabilitation
center, his family is being tested by financial and other
strains, his freedom probably will be decided by a judge and
his job turns on a close reading of the city's clunky,
antiquated charter.
     First up is the question of whether the councilman can
cling to the office he first won in 1991.
     In that quest, he is faced with an intricate piece of
legal work: If Hernandez elects not to fight the charges
against him and instead requests treatment or "diversion,"
the statute that allows him to avoid the possibility of jail
also requires him to plead guilty to a felony.
     The City Charter calls for a council member to be
removed from office upon "conviction" of a felony.
     It is possible, legal experts said, that the charter
provision may not apply to Hernandez's case because of a
subtlety in the state's recently passed diversion statute,
which allows the judge to accept Hernandez's plea but not
impose judgment until treatment is complete. That would mean
Hernandez had admitted guilt to a felony but not been
convicted of one.
     That might allow him to hold on to his council seat,
though by a bare thread and one that might elicit little
sympathy from residents of his district, who have long
battled against the proliferation of drugs in their area.
     In fact, Hernandez's role in that fight has raised other
concerns about his suitability to hold office. As a
councilman, Hernandez has been privy to information about
gang and drug activity, including the city's efforts to crack
down on the 18th Street gang, many of whose members are
active in the local drug trade.
     "That's something that [police] expressed concern
about," one city official said. "It's always in the back of
the mind."
     Officials stressed that no evidence has surfaced that
Hernandez passed any kind of information to drug suppliers,
but the potential for misuse of office nevertheless has
complicated his position.
     Meanwhile, the fact that police amassed enough evidence
to secure a warrant for the apartment of his aide, Mendoza,
has created an awkward tension within Hernandez's staff.
     "I don't really know how to comment on it," said Tony
Perez, the councilman's press secretary.
     According to the property report detailing the search of
Mendoza's apartment, officers found "plant material"
resembling marijuana and rolling papers there. She was not
arrested, and Perez said Wednesday that Mendoza is on
vacationa trip she planned before the recent disclosures
regarding the councilman.
     So far, no outside agency has initiated an audit of
Hernandez's staff accounts, though Deputy AuditorController
Tim Lynch said a cursory review of his contingency fund did
not reveal anything out of the ordinary.
     Perez, in fact, said Hernandez's staff would welcome a
full review of the accounts, which some officials have raised
questions about, given Hernandez's alleged $150aday cocaine
habit.
     All expenditures from the office accounts were approved
by both the councilman and his chief of staff, Morrie
Goldman, Perez said, and officials are confident that no
money is missing.
     Meanwhile, public opinion on the councilman's fate
appears sharply divided. In the immediate aftermath of his
arrest, Mayor Richard Riordan and a number of council members
expressed sympathy for his plight, only to face criticism
that they were coddling a colleague whose actions warranted
condemnation.
     Since his arrest, some of the public's reactionat
least as measured by calls to council offices and informal
contacts with the council members and their staffsseems to
have hardened against Hernandez.
     "Over the last couple of days, we've been getting more
and more calls . . . and the tone has turned nastier and
nastier," said one San Fernando Valley council member. "I
would definitely say the reaction has turned against him."
     One council aide agreed, noting a palpable shift in
reaction since the early expressions of sympathy.
     "The sentiment over here is shifting," said one council
aide. "It's hard to predict where things will end up."
     

     The Legal Trail
     Here are excerpts from documents filed in connection
with the investigation into cocaine use by City Councilman
Mike Hernandez.
     1) The search warrant: Executed at 6:15 a.m. on Friday,
Aug. 15
     2) The affidavit: Hernandez bought cocaine while under
surveillance from July 24 to Aug. 6
     3) Affidavit summary: He bought and used the cocaine in
his car, at City Hall or at a private residence during that
time.
* * *
     Found at City Hall
     * Cocaine residue on his desk
     * Marijuana and drugrelated paraphanelia
     * Rolodex card with the name and number of one of the
men accused of selling him cocaine
* * *
     What Hernandez Faces
     * Overcoming his problem at a rehabilitation center
     * Financial and other strains on his family
     * A decision whether to enter a guilty plea to a felony
in order to avoid jail time.

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