DA Calls for Boycott of Judge
In a rare call by a prosecutor for a blanket boycott of a jurist, the Santa Clara, Calif., district attorney told her staff Friday not to bring any cases before Superior Court Judge Andrea Bryan.
Dolores Carr even confirmed the move in a news release, saying that it was not prompted by any one incident but a number of rulings over the years, reports the San Jose Mercury News.
However, Carr’s announcement followed Bryan’s ruling earlier this month that a convicted child molester, Augustin Uribe, should be released due to “a tangled web of deceit” on the part of an assistant district attorney in the case, including false testimony, the newspaper reports. An earlier Mercury News article gives more details about Bryan’s order that Uribe be freed.
Bryan, who herself is a former prosecutor, could not be reached by the Mercury News. However, the presiding judge expressed “utmost confidence” in Bryan’s objectivity and integrity, and Public Defender Mary Greenwood said the apparent plan by Carr to have her deputies mount a campaign of peremptory challenges against Bryan is a threat to judicial independence.
“This action by the district attorney is very serious,” Greenwood tells the newspaper. “Effectively, it forces the judge out of the criminal court because she has not ruled in a way the district attorney favors.”
A similar campaign against a California judge was pursued last year by a district attorney in San Diego county.
Related earlier coverage:
ABAJournal.com: “Courthouse Abuzz Over DA’s Blanket Boycott of Longtime Judge”
ABAJournal.com: “Election ‘Vendetta’ Launched Against Top State-Court Judge Over Abortion Rulings”
ABAJournal.com: “Alleged De Anza Rape Case Unprosecuted, 1 Year Later”
Mercury News (opinion): “Herhold: DA’s race between incumbent Dolores Carr and Jeff Rosen promises to be nasty”
