OC Assessor Pleads Not Guilty To Filing False Nomination Papers

SANTA ANA (AP) — The Orange County assessor has pleaded not guilty to filing false nomination papers for a primary re-election bid earlier this year.

District attorney's office spokeswoman Farrah Emami says 70-year-old Webster Guillory pleaded not guilty Monday to three counts of filing false nomination papers.

A preliminary hearing was scheduled for Nov. 24.

Prosecutors say Guillory signed his name on two 10-signature petitions that he did not personally circulate and asked a colleague to falsely sign a third petition in March.

Guillory's lawyer, John Barnett, says the error was clerical, not criminal, and had no bearing on the election.

Guillory has been the county's assessor since 1998 and is up for re-election in November. The assessor determines the value of properties for tax purposes.

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