Bell 8 to ask for charges to be dismissed after court ruling

Defense attorneys for the former Bell leaders accused of looting the city treasury of the working-class town said their clients scored a victory this week in a state Supreme Court ruling involving a northern California official accused of misappropriating public funds.

The high court, in rejecting an appeal from Sutter County Auditor-Controller Robert Stark, said that prosecutors in public corruption cases have to prove defendants knew they were breaking the law or were criminally negligent in not knowing.

The so-called Bell 8 -- former City Council members Luis Artiga, Victor Bello, George Cole, Oscar Hernandez, Teresa Jacobo, George Mirabal, former City Administrator Robert Rizzo and his assistant Angela Spaccia -- maintain they had no idea they were violating laws as they helped themselves to bloated salaries, top-of-the-line retirement benefits and personal loans from the city.

Their attorneys said they will point to the Stark ruling when they ask that charges be dropped. A hearing is scheduled in September.

"It’s a big boost for the defendants because it says there has to be some sort of criminal intent in order to be convicted of misappropriation of funds," said Stanley L. Friedman, Hernandez’s attorney.