Silicon Valley's New DA Under Fire

The Queen of the Rove Republican Racket in the Silicon Valley, Dolores Carr, narrowly lost her re-election bid in June. As readers recall, she spurred a boycott of a sitting judge after the judge had lambasted prosecutorial misconduct in Carr's office.

Now the incoming prosecutor is under fire by Carr's friends for his own prosecutorial misconduct.

The San Jose Mercury News writes:

The prosecutor who narrowly won the race for Santa Clara County district attorney has been flagged for misconduct by an appellate court for the second time in his career — though in both cases the panel found the errors "harmless" and upheld the underlying criminal convictions.

The 6th District Court of Appeal this week found that Deputy District Attorney Jeff Rosen violated a judge's order in a 2008 trial by disclosing to a jury that a man on trial for rape had a criminal background. Nine years ago, an appellate court found Rosen erred in a different case — also by divulging evidence that could bias the jury against the defendant, despite orders from a judge not to do so.

Rosen's political opponents Thursday seized on Wednesday's decision by the appellate court as proof that the prosecutor who will replace first-term District Attorney Dolores Carr in January is unethical — and a hypocrite to boot for attacking Carr's ethics during the contentious campaign.

Goodbye Dolores!

Breaking News from the San Jose Mercury News:

In a stunning outcome determined only after the counting of late ballots Friday, veteran prosecutor Jeff Rosen (pictured) has succeeded in unseating his boss, District Attorney Dolores Carr — the first time in at least eight decades that a challenger has wrested the office from an incumbent. But Carr will continue to lead the office until early next year, raising the question of how she will deal with a largely mutinous staff of prosecutors in the next seven months, given that most supported Rosen.

The historic upset came after Rosen, 42, spent months relentlessly attacking Carr's ethics and judgment while offering himself as a reform-minded and ethical alternative. Carr, 56, tried to keep the focus on Rosen's lack of management experience, but voters apparently took more stock in Rosen's vow to be "a DA for the people" who would restore public trust in an office plagued by Carr's controversial missteps and questionable decision-making. "People really value high ethics and integrity in a DA," Rosen said. "The experience that really mattered was my experience as a tough, fair prosecutor."

Carr conceded Friday afternoon, about 90 minutes after elections officials released updated election returns. With 444,220 votes counted, Rosen won 224,399, or 50.5 percent; Carr had 49.4 percent. There are still an estimated 7,600 ballots left to count in the race, but Rosen is leading by 2,854 votes, a gap even Carr recognized she was unlikely to overcome.

Incumbent Rove Racket DA Losing in Silicon Valley

Dolores Carr, (pictured) the witch of Silicon Valley, the Queen of the Rove Republican Racket, the soon-to-be-former District Attorney of Santa Clara County, California is losing a heated race to retain her job as the top prosecutor.

Carr alienated many when she hit the nuclear button in January and boycotted a judge who lambasted prosecutorial misconduct by one of Carr's Assistant District Attorneys.

The San Jose Mercury News writes this morning:

In a startling development, Santa Clara County's most competitive race is still being bitterly fought today, with no clear winner emerging for district attorney. Veteran prosecutor Jeff Rosen is holding a razor-thin lead over District Attorney Dolores Carr, 50.61 percent to 49.39, with all precincts reporting. However, there are still several thousand mail-in ballots still not counted. If Rosen wins, it would be the first time in at least 83 years that a challenger has wrested the office from an incumbent district attorney. Even if he only comes close, it would be extraordinary. Sitting district attorneys are usually invincible in Santa Clara County, but Rosen has built his campaign on Carr's missteps and controversial decisions.

Carr, a former judge, has been criticized for intervening on behalf of a campaign contributor's client; for failing to see the potential conflict in her husband's financial involvement with a murder victim's family, and for boycotting a judge who found that a prosecutor committed misconduct. Carr's decision not to charge anyone for the alleged gang rape of a 17-year-old girl at a De Anza College baseball players' house party three years ago also was controversial. The issue resurfaced recently when documents in the girl's civil case against some of the players showed that Carr's office did not test all of the evidence in the criminal case.

California's Conflicting Carr

The case against the Rove Republican Racket District Attorney of Santa Clara County, California, Dolores Carr (pictured)is gaining momentum. As readers may recall, Carr pushed the nuclear button in legal circles and spearheaded the boycott of a sitting judge after the judge tossed out a case for gross prosecutorial misconduct.

Carr now faces a well-financed competitor who currently serves as a Deputy Prosecutor in her office.

The race has heated up and conflicts and controversy are knocking Carr down.

The San Jose Mercury News reports:

Almost from the start of her administration, Carr has been controversial. Earlier this year, she alienated many in the legal community when she ordered her staff to stop bringing criminal cases before Superior Court Judge Andrea Bryan. Two weeks prior, the judge had angered prosecutors by dismissing a sex molestation case after finding that a prosecutor committed misconduct, including giving false testimony. Some legal experts said the extremely rare blanket boycott could have a chilling effect on judicial oversight of overzealous prosecution.

Carr has apologized repeatedly for her misjudgment regarding her husband's involvement in a high-profile murder case. Carr's husband, former San Jose police Lt. John Carr, was paid $14,000 by an attorney for the slain victim's family, who had filed a separate lawsuit against the bank where he was shot. With that payment, the district attorney in effect was receiving income from an advocate for the victim's family, even as she would ultimately decide whether to seek the death penalty in the criminal case. The case eventually was turned over to the state attorney general to prosecute because of the potential conflict of interest. The money was returned and Carr said her husband would confine his work as a consultant to outside the county. But legal experts said she should have known from the outset that was the only ethical choice.

Single-Minded Ferocity

The political boycott of Rove Republican Racket member Dolores Carr, the elected District Attorney of Santa Clara, California (pictured), against Judge Andrea Y. Bryan is capturing national media.

We reported in January how Carr had provoked a political nuclear strike: a formal boycott of Judge Bryan as political retaliation. Judge Bryan accused one of Carr's deputy prosecutors of lying and engaging in "outrageous" prosecutorial misconduct when she dismissed a major criminal case.

Following on our lead, The New York Times is writing about the situation and the severe implications it could have on the independence of the judiciary.

Every Wednesday, prosecutors in Santa Clara County take part in a weekly ritual: as the new judges’ calendar goes online, they begin signing affidavit after affidavit to block cases from going before Judge Andrea Bryan. Since January, more than 100 cases originally assigned to Judge Bryan have been transferred to other judges in the San Jose courthouse at the request of the district attorney’s office.

While there had been earlier friction between Judge Bryan and Ms. Carr, the catalyst for the boycott came in January when Judge Bryan freed a convicted child molester. She ruled that a deputy district attorney on the case had lied about evidence and committed other “outrageous” acts of misconduct. 

In practice, a request for a judge to recuse herself is rare; it is almost never approached with the kind of single-minded ferocity seen in San Jose. There the effort has complicated the daily routine of administering justice and raised concerns that the prosecutor is exercising undue influence to sway judicial decisions. 

“If this is taken to its logical conclusion, you are talking about criminal defendants’ appearing before the judge chosen by the D.A,” said James Sample, a professor at the Hofstra Law School and the co-author of a 2008 report on recusal reform from New York University's School of Law. “It’s turning the scalpel of recusal into a chain saw to undermine judicial independence.”

Silicon Valley Softening

Dolores Carr, the Rove Republican Racket member from the Silicon Valley and District Attorney of Santa Clara County, California, is softening her boycott of a judge who ripped her staff for gross prosecutorial misconduct.

Carr hit the nuclear button at the tail end of last month and ordered a boycott of the judge.

Now, she's changing her tune.

The Associated Press reports:

The Santa Clara County District Attorney appears to be softening her boycott of a superior court judge. Dolores Carr had come under fire from some in the legal community after instructing prosecutors on her staff last month not to bring any criminal cases before Judge Andrea Bryan. But a spokesman for Carr said Monday she only intended for the ban to cover felonies, not misdemeanors such as petty theft and trespassing.  Carr had said in January her decision was based on a number of Bryan's rulings. Bryan had angered the district attorney's office earlier that month when she ordered the release of a man convicted of child molestation, citing prosecutorial misconduct. Some legal experts were critical of Carr's decision, saying it could affect judicial oversight of prosecutors.

Nuclear Strike in the Silicon Valley

We have done extensive reporting on prosecutorial misconduct in Santa Clara County, California. Now the situation has taken a serious turn for the worst for embattled Rove Republican Racket member and Santa Clara County District Attorney Dolores Carr.

About three weeks ago, we reported about the stunning rebuke an Assistant DA received from Judge Andrea Y. Bryan who lashed out at the "numerous acts of misconduct" including the serious charge of providing "false testimony" during the trial.

Now in retaliation, Carr has pushed the nuclear trigger against Bryan and is boycotting any criminal cases before the judge. The San Jose Mercury News writes:

Santa Clara County District Attorney Dolores Carr on Tuesday offered her most vigorous defense to date of her office's boycott of Superior Court Judge Andrea Bryan, even as criticism mounted in the legal community of what some are likening to a retaliatory nuclear strike. In an e-mail to the newspaper, Carr called it "not unheard of" for prosecutors to disqualify a judge from all criminal cases, citing actions by prosecutors in San Diego, Ventura and Mendocino counties, as well as efforts by public defenders to boycott judges in Santa Clara, Napa and San Bernardino counties.

But experts in criminal law and ethics said the blanket boycott that Carr initiated last week is an abusive tactic that can damage the court system. "Most DAs realize it's like the atomic bomb," said Laurie L. Levenson, who teaches criminal law and ethics at Loyola Law School.  "Inappropriate" and "a threat to judicial independence" were the terms used by Gerald F. Uelmen, a Santa Clara University law professor and former dean.

Carr instructed her staff Friday to stop bringing all criminal cases before Bryan, who recently angered prosecutors by finding that a trial prosecutor in her office committed numerous acts of misconduct, including giving false testimony. Carr, who is running for re-election and facing stiff criticism for the boycott, insisted in an e-mail that her decision was based on a pattern of rulings by Bryan. She declined to elaborate further.