D'AMATO

Petitioner Robert D’Amato was the City Administrator of the City of Placentia and supervised codefendant Christopher Becker, the city’s director of public works. To obtain federal funding for a project to lower the rail grades at street crossings, petitioner recommended the city council form a joint powers authority (JPA). As a board member of the newly formed JPA, petitioner voted with other JPA board members to contract with Becker’s consulting firm to serve as project manager. Because Becker served as both Placentia’s public works director and as the JPA project manager, a grand jury indicted him for having a personal interest in a contract he made while acting in his official capacity in violation of Government Code section 1090, and indicted petitioner for aiding and abetting Becker. After the trial court denied petitioner’s motion to set aside the indictment, petitioner sought a writ of prohibition barring the district attorney from prosecuting the criminal action against him. Petitioner contends, inter alia, the action is barred by the separation of powers doctrine and that insufficient evidence supports the indictment.

We conclude a substantial portion of the…