Water official washes out clean

The latest from our Web site on the trial of Albert Robles, board member for the Water Replenishment District:

DOWNEY - Nearly one year after charges were filed against him, a water officials has been found innocent on charges that he violated campaign code.

Albert Robles, a member of the Water Replenishment District Board of Directors, had been accused of sending two campaign mailers without return addresses, and of making a cash contribution to a campaign of more than $100.

But on Tuesday, a jury declared his innocence in Downey Superior court after about 20 minutes of deliberation, Robles said.

"They went through the three counts and came back within 20 minutes because they were bulls***," he said. "From the very beginning they were bulls***."

Robles has maintained that the charges against him, which stemmed from mailers he sent in support of three 2005 Pico Water District candidates, were because of a personal vendetta District Attorney Steve Cooley harbors against him.

The district attorney's office has repeatedly denied these allegations, and Deputy District Attorney Gary Neilsen said Cooley was not involved in his prosecution of the case.

Neilsen said he spoke to just one of the predominately-female jury, a woman who said the jury believed it could have been the fault of the mailing house which processed the two mailers that no return address was included.

Neilsen said the jury may have believed Robles was in the clear for paying cash for the mailers because he was not a candidate in the race or part of a candidate's committee, but he does not believe this is the case.

"You don't have to be a candidate to violate count 1, spending more than $100 (in cash)," Neilsen said. "He just needed to be spending money towards the candidate."

Though Neilsen said he is disappointed in the jury's decision, he is grateful for their service.

"We always respect a jury's efforts," he said. "They do a citizen's duty when they come and hear a case and reach a verdict and I appreciate that."

Robles is running for re-election to his seat this November, but he said he's not worried about whether the trial could have hurt his chance to win votes.

Robles said some of the jurors expressed to him that they planned to vote him in on election day, and he believes having been cleared will help with voters' opinions after months of press about his trial.

"The only way that this hurts my candidacy is if your newspaper decides to support an unqualified candidate because of these charges," Robles told the Whittier Daily News.