Buena Park : Ex-Council Candidate Gets Public Defender
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Former Buena Park City Council candidate Steve A. Grasha, who faces felony charges of lying about his residence on candidate’s documents, has been assigned a public defender.
During a preliminary hearing last month, Grasha pleaded not guilty to four counts of perjury and one count of filing false nomination papers. On Friday, during a pretrial hearing, Grasha asked North Orange County Municipal Court Judge John McOwen to assign him a public defender.
“Mr. Grasha, for economic reasons, was unable to afford an attorney,” explained Alan Plaia, who was Grasha’s private attorney until Friday. Grasha could not be reached for comment.
The charges against Grasha, 26, stem from an inquiry by the Buena Park Police Department to the district attorney’s office, in which former Mayor James Jarrell asked the police chief to determine whether Grasha lived at the Buena Park address he listed.
Grasha, who lost the council race, said the charges--filed within a week of the Nov. 5 election--were politically motivated. Jarrell’s son, Douglas, also was running for the council at the time. The senior Jarrell has denied that allegation.
The hearing on Grasha’s case was continued to Jan. 3.
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