THE FRESNO BEE
June 16, 1996

Rezone is their Passion

Prosecutors are recognized as powerful,
smart and hard-working.

By Angela Valdivia Rush and Jim Steinberg
The Fresno Bee

U.S. Attorney Charles J. Stevens made a vow two years ago as one of California's biggest political corruption cases was nearing closure.

He publicly proclaimed that his office would remain dedicated to uncovering political crimes.

At the time, Stevens had been the U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of California for six months. His district includes the eastern half of California from north of Los Angeles to the Oregon border.

Today, Stevens says his devotion to fighting corruption is documented by Operation Rezone.

For nearly 30 months, the U.S. attorney has remained committed to Operation Rezone, working with the FBI and Internal Revenue Service to nab politicians and others in Clovis and Fresno. Five men have entered guilty pleas and six others face charges, including four now being tried in U.S. District Court in Fresno.

And for the case's first trial, Stevens has thrust himself into the prosecutor's seat.

Stevens has teamed up with one of his employees, Assistant U.S. Attorney John K. Vincent.

It is an unusual move. Typically a U.S. attorney is buried in administrative and management work and not able to litigate cases. Stevens oversees about 60 assistant U.S. attorneys in the Sacramento and Fresno offices of the Eastern District.

But Stevens has found the time for this case. He says he is particularly insulted by politicians who ignore the public's interest by selling their votes to special interests.

Together, he and Vincent will try to jail former Clovis City Council Member Leif Sorensen and three others – Jack L. Williams, his son David M. Williams, and David Milutinovich. Sorensen and Jack Williams face extortion and other charges; David Williams and Milutinovich face charges of perjury and obstruction of justice.

It can be said that the prosecutors are obsessed with the case. They work day and night.

"I decided to work on this case nearly two years ago because it is an important case to the office and community," Stevens said. "I thought my personal involvement might help to underscore our commitment."

Stevens said Operation Rezone was his office's most significant political case since Sacramento's Operation Brispec, in which 14 people were convicted, including five legislators and the area's top lobbyists.

"The office had tremendous success with Brispec and now we are trying to pick up in the San Joaquin Valley where our predecessors left off in Sacramento," Stevens said.

Stevens joked about his decision to try the first Operation Rezone case, saying, "given the time drain, it's probably the last."

But Stevens was careful not to take all the credit. He is a team with Vincent, whose last big case was Brispec.

"We have tried to divide up the work as logically as we can, recognizing he's been devoted to the case the last two years and I've had many other things to take care of," Stevens said.

Vincent is modest and reserved. He does not want to talk about his devotion to Operation Rezone. He also is reluctant to talk about himself.

But Vincent, who works out of the Sacramento office, is no strangers to Fresno.

From 1986 through 1989 Vincent worked in the U.S. Attorney's Office in Fresno. One of the biggest cases he litigated while here was a Mendota political corruption case.

On April 27, 1989, Mendota Mayor Alex Valdez and builder Jerry Harris were convicted of accepting a $5,000 bribe from an undercover FBI agent.

But Vincent is quick to point out that Harris' conviction was later overturned.

When asked whether he loved his work, Vincent said, "I will say I feel very fortunate to do what I get to do."

Vincent gave the opening statements on behalf of the government Thursday. Stevens sat at a table, carefully watching the jury and occasionally looking at the door to see who had entered the courtroom.

Vincent was methodical in summarizing the government's side of the case. He read from notes and used large charts that included timetables of when the alleged crimes had occurred.

Vincent is soft-spoken and gentle, traits he tries to downplay.

"I don't know how mild-mannered I'll be as the trial progresses," he said.

Stevens' style is noticeably different.

During jury selection Stevens talked with the prospective jurors. He made them smile at times, While at the table, either watching the defense or Vincent, Stevens takes notes, sometimes bouncing his pen from one hand to another.

Stevens said he likes to study the jurors, read their faces.

Those who know or have worked with Stevens and Vincent say the two are not to be underestimated. They are powerful, smart and hard-working.

Defense lawyer Malcom Segal has a private practice in Sacramento and has worked with and against Stevens and Vincent. He said he was "glad to see they are down there and not fighting crime here."

"If I were putting together a team that would work however long it took to achieve a victory on a case, that is the team you are talking about, John Vincent and Chuck Stevens," Segal said. "I've been up against that team. It is not fun."

Segal said of Vincent, "When he is off work and not fighting crime he is very pleasant and very charming, but he has a great deal of trouble being charming when he is being a litigator."

He said of Stevens, "He is calm, pleasant, charming, but incredibly tenacious, and beneath the… exterior there beats the heart of a vigorous, diligent, aggressive prosecutor."

One of Stevens' law school classmates, Steve Burns, also was in private practice with him. He called Stevens' preparation thorough and said he does well with juries.

"He's not the Melvin Belli type who is going to grandstand," Burns said.

Stevens has his colorful side, Burns said, but does not display it in court. He is an avid bicyclist who enjoys "iron man" triathlon competition – a grueling race combining running, swimming and bicycling.

Stevens took a "huge cut" in pay to leave private practice for the U.S. attorney's post, which pays about $115,000 a year. He also did not have the normal political background for those who take the federal job.

"I don't think this is something he is doing as a stepping-stone," Burns said.

Fresno defense lawyer Earnest Kinney has been in the courtroom observing the Operation Rezone trial. Kinney also has worked against Vincent, defending Harris in the Mendota political corruption case.

He said he thinks Vincent and Stevens may be using the "good-guy, bad-guy" approach. Kinney said Vincent is aggressive and controlled and Stevens shows more personality.

"They may have Vincent plowing ahead with the facts and let Stevens come up and put a little bit of a paint brush to it," Kinney said.

John F. Garland, a former federal public defender, worked on the opposite side of criminal cases from Vincent in the late 1980s.

"He doesn't leave a rock unturned," Garland said.

Garland called Vincent very careful, composed, circumspect.

Garland never saw a judge lose his temper with Vincent, not even Fresno U.S. District Judge Edward Dean Price, "and not many avoided his wrath."

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