Doubts cast over activist

CITY HALL — As the City Council prepares to hold a public study session today on the merits of establishing a police commission, City Hall is rife with questions about the credibility of the effort’s main instigator, Richard Espiritu, after revelations that he has a criminal history in Glendale and that his explanation of how he obtained controversial court documents was likely bogus.

An activist who has long pushed for better access for disabled people in the city, Espiritu last month alleged that the Glendale Police Department had racial and ethnic biases based on a flier he publicly displayed that showed patrol cars painted with state Armenian colors and graphics.

A police officer created the flier several years ago, apparently as political satire, and was “severely disciplined” for showing ethnic insensitivity under the city’s zero-tolerance policy, city officials said.

The image resurfaced during a closed session of the City Council on July 8 when city attorneys presented color copies of the flier during an update of city legal affairs. The fliers were collected at the end of the meeting to protect the integrity of an ongoing case, city officials said.

Two weeks later, Espiritu publicly presented the flier to the City Council in calling for an inquiry into police behavior, inviting swift criticism from the dais over his apparent ownership of a closed-session document that could inflame the Armenian community.

Mayor John Drayman said the leak of the document was “rather damaging and shows a tremendous lack of understanding and lack of insight as to how that individual might compromise an ongoing investigation.”

Espiritu, before presenting the flier, said he obtained the color copy of the flier through his own research of case files at a superior court in downtown Los Angeles.

A color copy of the flier was found attached to a case file at the Stanley Mosk Superior Courthouse on Friday, but officials there said it’s impossible for a member of the public or the media to obtain a color copy of any court document, let alone a photograph from a case file.

Espiritu on Monday declined to comment, citing a subpoena he received from the City Attorney’s Office to testify on the matter.

“If in fact the document was leaked out of closed session, then I consider that a major issue,” Councilman Frank Quintero said, adding that Espiritu’s actions clearly had a political subtext.