Jurors Liked Raabe but Stuck by Convictions

SANTA ANA — They liked Matt Raabe, considered him a decent person and believed he worked hard as the county’s assistant treasurer.

But as much as some would have liked to have acquitted him, jurors said they had to find the 41-year-old former bureaucrat guilty of financial improprieties in connection with Orange County’s 1994 bankruptcy after studying corporation codes and trial transcripts over three days of deliberations.

“The fact is that he broke the law,” said Priscilla Lizarraga, a retired academic counselor from Aliso Viejo. “You can be a wonderful person. You can be sweet to your employees. But the bottom line is, he broke the law. And there was no way we could say he didn’t.”

Juror Scott Hall, a 36-year-old attorney from Orange, had mixed feelings.

“You would like to feel that you got a bad guy off the streets, but this doesn’t feel that way,” he said. “But if you are able to take millions of dollars without any consequences, it sends a bad message.”

Jurors said they agreed from the start of their deliberations that Matthew R. Raabe was guilty of five felony counts involving interest skimming and securities fraud violations, but the final decision was still difficult. Some shed tears as the verdict was read. All faced the court looking serious and weary.

“We all wanted to find some way we could acquit,” said one juror, who did not give her name. “That was mainly what took up most of our time [deliberating.] We did believe he was, character-wise, a very nice person.”

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Jurors said they could not blame Raabe for the bankruptcy, and focused their 12 hours of deliberations on the narrowly defined accounting-related charges before them.

“We didn’t discuss the bankruptcy,” said one juror, who would identify herself only as a registered nurse. “That wasn’t our focus.”

As she left the courthouse, the juror said the fact that Raabe did not benefit personally from his criminal actions was discussed but not considered relevant.

“The charges didn’t involve personal benefit,” she said.

There was no one piece of evidence or argument that swayed her, she said, adding the evidence against Raabe was “overwhelming.”

Juror Hall called the case “a very simple one to follow,” but a difficult one to decide because jurors felt sympathy for Raabe.

“Even the pool investors whose money he skimmed lacked any animosity toward him,” Hall said. “He stole $10 [million] to $12 million from them, but they seemed to say he was a good guy and would be willing to have lunch with him.”

Hall said jurors were shocked, however, to learn how few safeguards were in place to protect money in the county investment pool.

“It’s frustrating that accountants or auditors didn’t catch this,” Hall said. “It was quite surprising to see how little people cared about the money. There were no checks and balances.

“One of the questions I wanted to ask was, ‘Where were all the outside accountants?’ ” he added. “There was no oversight.”

Hall said jurors believed that, if not for the bankruptcy, the financial improprieties “could have gone on indefinitely.”

Jurors said they were not swayed by testimony of Raabe’s ex-boss, former Treasurer Robert L. Citron, who accused his onetime protege of concocting the scheme to skim nearly $90 million in interest earnings from outside investors in the county’s ill-fated investment pool.

Citron, 71, previously pleaded guilty to similar felony charges, and was sentenced to a one-year jail sentence that allows him to spend his nights at home.

“We didn’t want the case to hinge on what he had to say,” Hall said, questioning Citron’s credibility. “His memory seemed to be flawed. He openly stated on the stand that he had mental or psychological or emotional problems which he felt affected his recollection.

“If we would have had to rely strictly on Citron, we would have found [Raabe] not guilty,” he said.

In the end, the question of whether Raabe was the mastermind didn’t matter, jurors said.

“I think Mr. Raabe was deeply, deeply involved in the process,” Hall said. “We tried hard to figure out for ourselves whether it was Mr. Citron’s idea or Mr. Raabe’s idea. We ultimately decided it didn’t make much difference to us either way, he was so knee-deep in the process.”

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Although deeply disappointed in the verdict, Raabe’s attorney, Gary M. Pohlson, was not critical of the jury.

“They were obviously conscientious jurors,” he said. “You could tell that they were paying attention.”

Jurors said they have mixed feelings about whether Raabe should spend time in prison. He faces up to 13 years behind bars when he is sentenced July 11 by Superior Court Everett W. Dickey.

“This was millions of dollars [involving] school districts, water districts,” juror Lizarraga said, shaking her head. “Our schools need repair. There’s just so many things you have to think about. It’s sad, but it was done. It was a violation. That’s the way it goes.”

Also contributing to this report were Times staff writer Shelby Grad and correspondent Jeff Kass.