City Councilman Curren Price is set to be arraigned on Friday, Dec. 15, on criminal charges of theft by embezzlement, perjury and conflict of interest for allegedly voting on projects involving developers tied to his wife’s consulting firm, then failing to report the connections.
A judge is expected to hear the defense’s legal challenge involving the 10 charges against the councilman before the arraignment goes forward.
Defense attorneys contend in a court filing that the five counts of grand theft by embezzlement against Price are “barred by the statute of limitations.”
The defense also contends that the allegations in the complaint are “insufficient to allege a crime” involving the two conflict-of-interest charges, and that the facts stated in the complaint involving the three perjury charges “do not constitute a public offense.”
The prosecution has countered that the defense’s challenge should be denied.
Deputy District Attorney Casey Higgins wrote in his response that the defense’s challenge is “unsupported by the law and meritless.”
He added that the prosecution is not barred by the statute of limitations because “the prosecution was initially commenced on June 13, 2023, which was within four years after the completion of the offenses” involving five of the challenged charges.
Price has maintained his innocence and is free on his own recognizance.
Price — who will turn 73 on Saturday — has represented the Ninth District, which includes most of South Los Angeles and Exposition Park, since 2013. He previously served in the state Assembly and state Senate.
The criminal complaint alleges that Price effectively embezzled money between 2013 and 2017 by having the city cover roughly $33,800 in medical premiums for Del Richardson, to whom he claimed to be married, although he was still married at the time to Lynn Suzette Price.
After his initial court appearance in July, Price issued a statement saying, “We are looking…
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