Ex-Alameda County district attorney criticizes new top prosecutor

Per week after Alameda County District Legal professional Ursula Jones Dickson had really useful her efficiency from her first 100 days in workplace, the previous Da Pamela Value expressed in opposition to the newly appointed Da, who closed her near totally different reforms that had carried out the prize and accused her of ‘Corruptie’. She mentioned that Jones Dickson “rebuilds the pipeline to jail.”

In February, the Alameda County Board of Supervisors appointed Jones Dickson, a former decide of the Supreme Court docket and public prosecutor, to switch the worth, who was recalled With practically 63% of voters within the November 2024 elections. Jones Dickson held a press convention final week to indicate reporters how she restructured the DA workplace to pay attention extra on uplifting victims of crimes.

However Value, who mentioned reporters that she isn’t going to run once more for Alameda County DA or to launch a recall marketing campaign in opposition to the brand new DA, held a press convention in Iverett & Jones BBQ in Oakland on Wednesday morning.

The occasion, mentioned Value, was an instance of an open letter that she would quickly publish about her considerations concerning the first 100 days of Jones Dickson.

On the finish of Might Jones Dickson rejected a $ 33 million lawsuit that was submitted final yr in opposition to Radius Recycling and two staff for his or her function in a West Oakland fireplace from 2023 who despatched plumes of poisonous smoke within the Bay Space. Jones Dickson advised reporters final week that she had rejected the case after she determined that there was “inadequate proof” to proceed.

However throughout Wednesday’s press convention, Value refuted the claims from Jones Dickson. Value mentioned that in its time period of workplace, the workplace of the DA and a big jury of Alameda County for months hundreds of paperwork and textual content messages, testimonies of about 50 witnesses, statements from an skilled within the discipline of public well being and interviews with numerous victims, together with some firefighters who mentioned the prize “.

Value mentioned that the brand new DA didn’t seek the advice of with deputy public prosecutor Gabriel Markoff, who had labored on the case, or the victims of the scrap fireplace earlier than the case was rejected.

Value added that this was not the primary time that Radius recycling had been charged. She pointed to at least one 2021 Legal Positioned by the California Division of Poisonous Substances Management, the workplace of the lawyer Normal and the workplace of the province of DA in opposition to the metallic recycling firm, on the time referred to as Schnitzer Metal, due to its function in one other fireplace. In that case, Schnitzer was pressured to pay $ 4.1 million as a part of the settlement.

“This was not a singular state of affairs, and it was actually not a troublesome factor to show,” mentioned Value.

“While you reject enterprise affairs, who will shield you?” she added. “You do not shield the inhabitants of Alameda County.”

‘Corruption and nepotism’

Value additionally accused Jones Dickson of ‘corruption and nepotism’ round her coping with wreckly loss of life penalty instances.

In April 2024, a federal decide ordered the DA’s workplace beneath worth to analyze 35 loss of life penalty instances in Alameda County, relationship from the Eighties, for misconduct of the prosecution. A decide of the American court docket wrote on the time that the jury elections of the general public prosecutor ‘sturdy proof’ confirmed that they had been ‘concerned in a sample of great misconduct, mechanically completely Jewish and Afro -Mamerican jury members’. Value later ordered that within the lifeless scen there’s a hate of the lifeless cell, of whom most individuals had been of shade, after they found that their constitutional rights was violated. Twenty of these individuals had been in the end audible, Calmatters reported.

Nonetheless, Jones Dickson has assigned assistant Da Catherine Horner Kobal to revise the remaining instances, based on Value. Horner Kobal is the daughter of the retired Alameda County Superior Court docket Choose Jeffrey Horner, who supplied at the least six deadly fines with proof of prosecution and misconduct and Racial law Violations. (Particularly, Horner prescribed the Ernest Dykes caseWho led to the mandate of the federal decide once more re -see 35 loss of life penalty instances.) Horner Kobal and Jones Dickson have just lately moved to withdraw the resentment suggestions for at the least 4 loss of life penalties that Horner Kobal’s father had chaired.

Name it ‘the elephant within the room’, Value mentioned that Horner Kobal’s project presents a transparent ‘battle of curiosity’.

“With a purpose to make sure that the daughter of Choose Horner supervise the resentment issues and submitting motions to take the suggestions of the conviction within the loss of life penalty … is de facto problematic and nothing lower than a travesty of justice,” she mentioned.

Reform reforms of Value’s time period of workplace

Value additionally taunted Jones Dickson for the withdrawal of two particular tips that the worth had carried out as DA.

Printed worth Special guideline 23-02These public prosecutors forbidden to switch youngsters to the grownup court docket, besides in “extraordinary circumstances” and in instances with “significantly weak victims”. She additionally spent Special guideline 23-01who typically prohibited the prosecutors to submit sentence enhancements. If a case had ‘extraordinary circumstances’, a public prosecutor needed to obtain approval from a supervisor earlier than he made an enchancment. Sense enhancements normally end in stricter penalties, akin to a lifelong jail sentence with out the potential of conditional launch.

Final week Jones Dickson advised the media that she withdrew these tips on her first day on the workplace. The brand new DA mentioned that the principles of Value had put an additional burden for public prosecutors, which induced a backlog in charging issues.

However Value mentioned that the particular tips don’t apply to crimes.

“The one backlog ever reported to me or the media was a backlog in crime issues,” she mentioned. “No person ever mentioned that there was a backlog in crime instances that was one way or the other brought on by the particular tips.”

Jones Dickson’s reversal from Value’s reforms on day 1 of her time period of workplace was “similar to Donald Trump,” mentioned Value. “It sounds so acquainted and so Trump-Y.”

She additionally disputed the claims of Jones Dickson that the workplace of the DA had a “drawback” beneath worth when charging prison instances through which minors had been concerned and that it had not submitted methods previously two years – claims that Jones Dickson had made reporters at her press convention final week.

“That’s not correct and it’s deceptive,” mentioned Value.

The previous DA additionally accused Jones Dickson of strengthening lengthy -term inequalities within the DA’s workplace. Of the practically 20 attorneys who had been dismissed by Jones Dickson or left the DA’s workplace, six are black. Of the 12 staff who’ve been terminated or positioned with administrative depart beneath Jones Dickson, 11 are black or Latino, based on Value.

“This was an workplace that had an enormous variety drawback,” she mentioned. “She fired individuals with experience who did the work for which we employed them, and to do it very properly.

Along with her just lately launched podcast, “Pamela Value Unpiltered”, Value mentioned that she now has a personal regulation follow and can quickly unveil a brand new firm known as Subsequent Likelihood Options to assist beforehand locked up individuals.

“Whereas our newly appointed public prosecutor builds up the pipeline to jail,” mentioned Value, “We’re constructing a path dwelling for individuals who have served their time and forgiven their crimes, however who stay trapped in a damaged system that isn’t going to present them the second possibilities that the regulation says they’re entitled.”

The Oaklandside put his hand out of the DA media workforce and obtained no response.