Marian Cruz will officially drop a lawsuit contesting her husband’s 10-vote loss in the District 5 March supervisor primary – once the two sides’ lawyers meet.
But the lawyer for Supervisor-elect Jaime De La Cruz said Monday he’s in no hurry for a dismissal and hinted his clients are considering their own court action.
It’s unclear when the two sides will meet. Cruz’s lawyer Harry Damkar said he expects to hear back from De La Cruz’s lawyer Mike Pekin any day. Damkar said Monday they have to figure out the technical terms of a dismissal but they are definitely moving ahead with it.
“The attorneys have yet to get together and agree on what the actual mechanism is,” Damkar said.
Pekin, though, said he’s not concerned with hurrying a dismissal at this point. He has to “assess a lot of responsibility for a lot of damage,” he said.
“It is that the lawsuit was intentionally brought, meaning the Marian Cruz lawsuit, by longtime opponents of Ignacio and Jaime,” Pekin said. “I’m exploring the consequences of that very carefully.”
Pekin wouldn’t say whether De La Cruz and his campaign adviser Ignacio Velazquez would seek court action or attorney’s fees from Supervisor Bob Cruz or his supporters. Though Velazquez has indicated they would pursue some sort of action against the people who incited the allegations.
“We’ve known all along that they had no evidence. Now we are determining the consequences,” Pekin said, adding when questioned for elaboration, “I’m not prepared to outline that right now.”
De La Cruz and Velazquez are also awaiting what will happen with a criminal investigation involving many of the same allegations in the Cruz suit.
District Attorney John Sarsfield had asked the Attorney General’s Office if he could objectively oversee the criminal probe after Velazquez alleged he’s having an affair that clouded his judgment. The state office recently said Sarsfield was OK handling the matter, but the district attorney has not publicly announced his intentions.
