California Newspaper Calls for Resignation of 'Inspirational' DA
A California newspaper is raising ethics concerns about a former drug addict who became district attorney in the state’s northwest corner under a “death to meth” platform.
The Sacramento Bee called for the resignation of District Attorney Jon Alexander in an editorial published on Wednesday. “Alexander’s lapses in judgment while in office demonstrate he is ill-suited to be a top law enforcement official in Del Norte County,” the newspaper asserts.
The newspaper says Alexander is under FBI investigation for possible bribery and faces an ethics probe by the State Bar of California. The allegations giving rise to the investigations are outlined in a Sacramento Bee story published on Sunday.
Among the allegations: Alexander dropped charges against the client of a local lawyer who loaned him $6,000 for a hair transplant. Alexander tells the newspaper he repaid the loan before he became DA and did not show any favoritism.
Alexander also denies any wrongdoing in response to another allegation—that he offered to endorse a candidate for a public defender job he once held, in exchange for $6,000 and a share of future fees earned on cases he formerly handled. Alexander told the Bee he merely wanted a legitimate portion of compensation for the cases he had worked on.
Alexander says he began taking methamphetamines due to the stress of caring for his mother, who was suffering from Alzheimer’s in the late 1990s. By 2003, he had lost his girlfriend and home, taking up residence in the crawl space under a Laguna Beach house with his mother’s dog. After going to a motel shooting gallery, he ended up in an alley with a broken neck. Alexander went to the Salvation Army for help after his friend and mentor, California Court of Appeal Judge William Bedsworth, pleaded with Alexander to go to rehab.
“You can respect Jon Alexander’s journey from meth addict to elected official,” the newspaper editorial says. “But his recovery, however inspirational, doesn’t make him qualified to be a district attorney.”
