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District Attorney Refiles Criminal Charges Against Richard Alarcon, Wife Over Residency

LOS ANGELES (CBS) — Just hours after a Superior Court judge dismissed a criminal case against Los Angeles City Councilman Richard Alarcon, prosecutors have filed identical perjury and voter fraud charges alleging he and his wife lived outside the district he represents and lied about his address.

"Judge Kathleen Kennedy's decision today to dismiss the Alarcon case is inexplicable," District Attorney Steve Cooley said in a statement. "We will vigorously prosecute this case."

Alarcon, 58, is charged with 18 counts -- two felony counts of filing a false declaration of candidacy in December 2006 and November 2008; seven felony counts of fraudulent voting in elections in 2007, 2008 and 2009; and nine counts of perjury, ncluding three for allegedly filing false driver's license applications. The charges are identical to the ones thrown out earlier Thursday.

Alarcon's s wife, 46-year-old Flora Montes de Oca Alarcon, was also charged again in the newly filed case, with three counts of perjury for allegedly claiming she lived at a Panorama City home within Alarcon's 7th District on a provisional voting ballot, in registering to vote and on a drivers license application. She was also charged with three counts of fraudulent voting involving elections in 2008 and 2009.

Prosecutors contended Alarcon lived in Sun Valley, not Panorama City as he claimed in November 2006.

Alarcon has long insisted that he began living at the Panorama City home in November 2006 with his wife and two daughters. The couple now lives in Mission Hills.

"My wife and I are obviously very pleased with the judge's ruling today," Alarcon said after the judge's ruling. "We have maintained our innocence throughout this process and have always believed that when all of the evidence is considered, we would be found innocent."

Superior Court Judge Kathleen Kennedy said during a hearing last month she had concerns that the prosecutors had not properly considered evidence that favored the Alarcons' position when presenting the case to the grand jury. She formally dismissed the case Thursday morning.

Cooley disputed the judge's legal reasoning.

"The grand jury transcripts clearly show that our prosecutors did indeed present evidence submitted by the councilman and his wife," Cooley said. "The grand jury chose not to consider it, as is their right."

There was no immediate comment from Alarcon on the case being refiled.

(©2012 CBS Local Media, a division of CBS Radio Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. Wire services contributed to this report.)

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