Trial begins today in ex-L.A. deputy mayor Raymond Chan's federal corruption case. His attorney has already angered the judge.
Veteran criminal defense attorney Harland Braun's aggressive approach to Raymond Chan's defense has included a few missed deadlines along the way.
Trial begins today in the federal corruption case of former deputy Los Angeles mayor Raymond Chan.
Chan is disgraced ex-L.A. City Councilman Jose Huizar’s co-defendant.
Huizar took a plea deal last month that calls for prosecutors to recommend he serve no more than 13 years in prison. But Chan is solidly in for the win, putting all his cards on 12 jurors and several alternates who are being selected right now in courtroom 1 (the big courtroom) at the First Street Courthouse.
He’s represented by veteran criminal defense attorney Harland Braun, who hasn’t shied away from railing prosecutors as corrupt and racist in pre-trial filings.
Chan led the Los Angeles Department of Building and Safety from May 2013 to June 2016, then was deputy mayor of economic development from June 2017 to June 2017.
Prosecutors say he participated in a racketeering conspiracy led by Huizar that involved developers bribing public officials to approve real estate projects.
One developer was Wei Huang, a Chinese national and real estate developer who acquired the L.A. Grand Hotel Downtown through his company Shen Zhen New World I LLC. Prosecutors say Chan introduced Huang to Huizar, and Huang bribed Huizar and Huizar’s assistant George Esparza in connection with his plans to redevelop the 13-story hotel into a 77-story skyscraper.
That includes Huang giving Huizar $600,000 to settle a sexual harassment lawsuit filed by a former staffer as well as trips on private jets and stays at luxury hotels, and $200,000 in gambling chips at casino in Las Vegas and Australia, as well as escorts and prostitutes.
Prosecutors also say Chan introduced Huizar to Fuer Yuan, another Chinese national and real estate developer who through his company Jia Yuan USA Co., Inc. bought the Luxe City Center Hotel in downtown L.A.
Huizar has admitted to accepting bribes from both Haung and Yuan. A jury convicted Shen Zhen New World I LLC in November of bribing Huizar. Jia Yuan USA Co. entered into a non-prosecution agreement in October 2020 that involved a $1 million fine.
Chan retired from the city in 2017, according to a statement of his case written by U.S. District Judge John F. Walter, then went to work with Chiang at his Synergy consulting firm that had been bribing him in relation to the hotel project.
“The government alleges that, after he left the City and became a private consultant, defendant Chan continued to further the goals of the racketeering conspiracy by seeking to bribe other public officials, including Huizar’s Planning Director, to perform favorable official acts for the Luxe Hotel Project and projects for other Synergy clients, including through indirect financial payments to the public officials’ relatives,” Judge Walter wrote.
Chan also is accused of lying to investigators during a 2018 interview.
Walter summarized his defense this way:
Based on the filings I’ve read and a recent status conference I attended, Chan’s defense appears a bit disheveled. The 80-year-old Braun told Walter last week he doesn’t believe prosecutors can bring racketeering charges over political conduct.
Walter’s response? “The time for that was in the last two years.”
Walter also filed an order on Friday that says Braun didn’t object to any slides that prosecutors plan to present in their opening, nor did he provide prosecutors with his position on the statement of the case that will be read to jurors.
“Defendant has once again violated the Court’s orders by failing to participate in preparation of the Court-ordered joint statement, which has increased the work of the Court and opposing counsel,” Walter wrote. “In absence of Defendant’s argument in support of his slides, the Court has no alternative but to preclude him from using any slide objected to by the Government (with some minimal exceptions).”
Walter also specified that Braun cannot refer to the following topics: “(1) the Government’s or prosecution’s alleged “illegal” tactics; (2) instructions or definitions regarding the law; (3) any reference to “entrapment”; and (4) any reference to the “China Initiative” or Government’s alleged racial bias or animus.”
The judge also offered this final warning: “Finally, the Court cautions defense counsel that his PowerPoint presentation appears to be more akin to a closing argument than an opening statement. As correctly stated by the Government, an opening statement should reflect what the party expects the evidence will show, and should be limited to a preview of the charges and the evidence to be presented at trial.”
The prosecutors are Mack Jenkins, who’s now chief of the entire criminal division for the Central District’s U.S. Attorney’s Office, as well as assistant U.S. attorneys Susan Har, Brian Faerstein and Cassie Palmer.
Openings are just around the corner. Stay tuned!
Thank you for reading Legal Affairs and Trials with Meghann Cuniff. I will be posting articles on this page more regularly, along with my weekly roundup. Thank you for your support!
The human resources department in LADBS worked with Ray Chan to discredit any coworker employees that knew Ray Chan was corrupt.