Wave Wire Services
LOS ANGELES — Following a multi-day hearing, City Councilman Curren Price was ordered to stand trial on a series of public corruption charges.
Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge Shelly Torrealba rejected a defense motion to dismiss the entire case Jan. 28, saying she found “sufficient cause” for the case against Price to proceed to trial.
The Ninth District councilman is charged with five counts of grand theft by embezzlement of public funds, four counts of conflict of interest and three counts of perjury by declaration.
Price — who has represented the South Los Angeles/Exposition Park district since 2013 after previously serving in the Assembly, the state Senate and the Inglewood City Council — has maintained his innocence.
He remains free on his own recognizance while awaiting arraignment March 13 at the downtown Los Angeles courthouse.
In a statement released shortly after the hearing, Price’s representative said, “The testimony presented during the hearing, including from key witnesses, clearly shows that Councilman Price did not act with any intent to do wrong and that the case rests on speculation rather than facts.
“While the court’s ruling is disappointing, the council member remains fully committed to fighting these charges, clearing his name, and is confident the truth will ultimately prevail,” Angelina Valencia-Dumarot, executive director of communications for Price, said in the statement.
Price is accused of failing to list money that a company solely owned by his wife, Delbra Pettice Richardson, received from some developers and failing to recuse himself from voting to approve certain projects. He also is accused of embezzling nearly $33,800 in city funds from 2013-17 to pay for medical benefits for Richardson, whom he falsely claimed was his wife while he was still legally married to Lynn Suzette Price, according to the District Attorney’s Office.
Defense attorney Michael Schafler had asked the judge to dismiss all of the charges, arguing that “it’s our view that the evidence is insufficient.”
Addressing the conflict-of-interest charges, he acknowledged that the prosecution had established that “many mistakes were made.” But he said Price had a process in place in his office to determine potential conflicts of interest and was not notified unless his staff alerted him.
Price’s lawyer said there was “no evidence that Mr. Price acted with any wrongful intent,” arguing that the charges involved a “very isolated” section of Price’s voting, telling the judge that the councilman’s vote involving those issues were not a deciding factor and that he had “nothing to gain.”
Deputy District Attorney Casey Higgins countered that Price had blamed “everyone” but himself.
The prosecutor told the judge that the councilman was “trying to create this wall around himself.”
He argued that two witnesses called during the hearing were “trying to jump in front of the bus” for Price, for whom they had worked.
Price pleaded not guilty to the initial 10 charges in December 2023, with prosecutors subsequently adding two additional counts of conflict of interest last August.
He could face up to 11 years and four months in custody if convicted, including up to nine years and four months in state prison and up to two years in county jail, according to the L.A. County District Attorney’s Office.
“Public officials will not violate the public trust on my watch,” District Attorney Nathan Hochman said in a statement last year shortly after Judge Sean Coen rejected a challenge from the defense contesting the legal sufficiency of the complaint — a move that could have resulted in the dismissal of the case.
Price is the latest Los Angeles city official to fall into legal or political turmoil.
Former council members Jose Huizar and Mitch Englander have both pleaded guilty to federal charges in recent years, while former Councilman Mark Ridley-Thomas was convicted in 2023 of federal charges for trading votes during his time on the county Board of Supervisors in exchange for benefits provided by USC to his son.
Former City Council President Nury Martinez resigned in 2022 after being caught on tape making racist remarks in a conversation with two other council members and a county labor official, discussing the council’s redistricting process.
