San Diego Official, Accused of Misusing Funds, to Be Tried
SAN DIEGO — Councilman Uvaldo Martinez was ordered Tuesday to stand trial on 24 felony counts of misappropriating and falsely accounting for public funds in connection with his alleged misuse of a city credit card.
After a six-day preliminary hearing in San Diego Municipal Court, county prosecutors asked Judge Joseph K. Davis to drop four additional charges against Martinez. Testimony by a waitress Tuesday undermined the prosecution’s version of those allegations, Deputy Dist. Atty. Allan Preckel said.
Davis ordered Martinez to appear in San Diego County Superior Court on July 22 for a hearing at which his right to court-appointed counsel will be reviewed in light of a just-enacted pay raise increasing the salary of Martinez and other City Council members from $35,000 to $40,000 a year.
Martinez obtained a court-appointed lawyer after saying he was unable to afford a private attorney during grand jury and pretrial proceedings.
Martinez will be tried on charges that he illegally used a city-issued credit card to purchase $1,840 worth of meals and drinks.
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