Superior Court drops criminal charges against professor

By Rachel Makabi
Daily Bruin Contributor

The Superior Court of Los Angeles dropped all charges last month
against physiology Professor Michael Chase, who was accused of one
count of misappropriation of public funds and one count of grand
theft by embezzlement.

While criminal charges have been officially dropped against
Chase, the university can still take disciplinary action if it
finds that he violated the Faculty Code of Conduct.

Due to policy, Joe Mandel, vice chancellor of legal affairs,
would not say whether the university has or will take disciplinary
actions against Chase.

According to Mandel, the university paid approximately $1.78
million for academic conferences Chase was holding. UCLA alleged
that Chase overpaid the event planners, and some of this money was
funneled back to the professor.

The dispute also questioned whether Chase was required to report
the income to the Health Sciences Compensation Plan.

Though the plan allows professors to accept income outside the
university if the work is related to their teachings or research,
it still asks that professors report the income. But because Chase
received money for work on a symposium ““ which is outside the
duties of his job ““ he said he was not required to report
it.

Chase said the charges devastated his professional, personal and
research life, and he hopes a review of the events will prevent
others from facing a similar situation.

In a civil case in March 2000, Chase settled by agreeing to pay
the university $750,000. District Attorney Richard A. Lowenstein
did not press charges initially due to insufficient evidence, but
he later conducted his own investigation and filed a suit against
Chase.

A preliminary hearing on April 4 found that funds Chase received
from organizers were exchanged for work he performed, and the
transactions were known and approved by the university. The hearing
also found that university regulations allowed him to be
compensated for private work and that the original complaint did
not state a public offense.

Though Chase is a tenured professor, if he were suspected of
breaking the Faculty Code of Conduct, his case would be taken to
the grievance and disciplinary procedures committee at the Academic
Senate. If substantial evidence is found, the vice chancellor for
academic personnel can recommend to the chancellor to dismiss,
demote, suspend or give a letter of censure to Chase.

Chase said he does not think it is fair for the university to
take actions against anyone after the superior court has dropped
charges.

“Any disciplinary actions are time consuming, incredibly
costly and damaging to life and livelihood,” Chase said.
“Unless they have a real basis, they can have dire
consequences.”

Norman Abrams, vice chancellor for academic personnel, said the
university can still bring its own charges against someone after a
different court has exonerated them.