Los Angeles News

SANTA ANA, Calif. Disgraced former Orange County sheriff Mike Carona's lawyers are trying to get racially and sexually charged statements removed from secretly recorded conversations that will be played for jurors in his public corruption trial.

Defense attorney Jeffrey Rawitz said in court papers that the statements "are irrelevant to the issues at trial and pose a great danger of prejudicing the jury against Carona for reasons wholly apart from his guilt or innocence of the charged offenses."

What lawyers want barred are excerpts from several conversations Carona had with Don Haidl, a former assistant sheriff who was a target of the federal investigation. Those excerpts include Carona talking about extramarital sexual conquests and using the N-word.

Haidl pleaded guilty to a tax charge, unbeknownst to Carona, and agreed to cooperate with authorities by wearing a wire during three meetings with Carona. The meetings supplied nearly 10 hours of taped conversations, according to the defense motion.

U.S. District Judge Andrew Guilford has already ruled that the tapes will be admitted into the trial.

The N-word is heard three times, but Carona is not referring to the race of a person, but uses it as an adjective to describe small amounts of money.

On the tapes, Carona talks about having sex all night with a woman he met when he was in Sacramento in connection with the Peace Officer Memorial. He also talks about accusations leveled at him in the media and challenges those accusing him to prove the allegations.

Referring to reports of an alleged sex act in an extramarital encounter, Carona says his family life is still intact.

In one segment, Carona complains about the federal investigation and insists he has done nothing wrong.

"And, you're right, I've had a life that's been absolutely blessed," he says. "... I mean, I've met millionaires, billionaires, I've traveled on personal airplanes and I never shook anybody down for any (expletive) so ...
Not that I haven't, you know, drank great wine and had great booze and ... got some, you know, phenomenal (derogatory word) along the way but none of that .... I got it because, you know, I held somebody hostage." Carona said.

He complains that five years ago, he could "you know, enjoy myself. Now, me checking into a hotel room? Unless I'm doing it with -- you know."

Rawitz said that allowing the comments -- which make up about two minutes of the 10 hours of conversations -- "will serve only to inflame jurors' passions, distract them from the charges at issue, and provoke an instinct to punish."

"The conduct is likely to arouse an instinct to punish," Rawitz wrote. "The risk of prejudice is especially great here given Carona's status as a top law enforcement official. The public generally holds elected officials and law enforcement officers to a higher standard of conduct and when an official or officer fails to meet that expectation there is a strong negative reaction."

U.S. Attorney's Office spokesman Thom Mrozek said attorney's will respond in court papers that will probably be filed late next week. A hearing is set for Aug. 4.

Carona, his wife, Deborah, and attorney Debra Hoffman are accused in a 10-count indictment of selling the power of the sheriff's office for hundreds of thousands of dollars in cash and gifts. Trial is set for Aug. 26.

(© 2008 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. Wire services contributed to this report.)