Deputy Dogs L.A.'s Top Prosecutor

The hottest political race in Southern California is looking lopsided these days, with District Attorney Gil Garcetti lagging so far behind challenger Steve Cooley that some say he can't come back.

With a burgeoning police scandal, voters seem intent on showing their disapproval of Garcetti at the ballot box. A Los Angeles Times poll released this week showed Garcetti trailing his deputy 55 percent to 18 percent. The rest were undecided.

Some say the gap is insurmountable. But those who know Garcetti say the man in charge of the largest prosecutor's office in the country shouldn't be counted out just yet. After all, he won re-election in 1996, when the acquittal of O.J. Simpson was still fresh in voters' minds.

"In November he will be judged on his actions," said Bill Carrick, Garcetti's campaign manager.

Garcetti still has a chance to change voters' minds by the way he handles the Los Angeles Police Department scandal, one of the largest in U.S. history.

More than two dozen officers from the LAPD's Rampart station have quit, been fired or relieved of duty amid allegations that its antigang unit framed, beat or shot innocent people.

At the request of Garcetti's office the courts have dismissed 60 cases based on statements by disgraced former Officer Rafael Perez.

But Garcetti has yet to file a case against any officer except a plea bargain with Perez.

"With so much intense media focus on the Rampart issue, Gil has become the first political victim of Rampart," Carrick said. "But this is the first chapter of a long novel on Rampart."

By November, Carrick said, charges probably will have been lodged against police officers and the public will begin to see the results they have been demanding.

"If there are indictments," he said, "the public may take another look at this."

Not everyone agrees.

"There's just no coming back from where he is," said Ira Reiner, Garcetti's predecessor.

"The odds on Garcetti now are DNA odds, several million to one," Reiner said. "Gil is truly history in this one."

Reiner faced a similar situation when Garcetti pulled ahead of him in 1992. Reiner bowed out of the race before the runoff election could be held.

No one expects Garcetti to take that route.

"I'd be stunned. It's not in his nature," said John Lynch, who lost to Garcetti by only about 3,000 votes in 1996. "But I can't imagine any other incumbent getting 18 percent. I think (disgraced LAPD Detective) Mark Fuhrman would register better than that."

Cooley us a veteran deputy district attorney who heads Garcetti's welfare fraud unit. His campaign strategist, Joe Scott, a veteran of many California political races, said he expects Garcetti to go the distance.

"We're not assuming he's going to drop out," Scott said. "He's a different candidate than Ira Reiner. It' a personality thing."

One of Garcetti's advantages is a campaign war chest of about $800,000, Scott said. Cooley's coffers have about half that amount.

Scott said his campaign will continue putting out position papers outlining Cooley's philosophies on issues including the three strikes law, efforts to speed up Rampart prosecutions and management reforms in the prosecutor's office.

Scott said he will try to avoid any negative attacks on Garcetti.

"If Garcetti is running the wrong way with the football," says Scott, "why should we tackle him?"