Prosecutors appeal Tianna Arata case to state Supreme Court
November 5, 2022
By KAREN VELIE
Prosecutors filed a petition for review with the state Supreme Court on Friday asking the justices to hear a case involving an Appellate Court opinion that San Luis Obispo County District Attorney Dan Dow’s personal political opinions jeopardized seven Black Lives Matter defendants’ rights to a fair trial and that local prosecutors should be replaced by state prosecutors.
During a July 21, 2020 march, Tianna Arata allegedly led approximately 300 protesters onto Highway 101, blocking all lanes in both directions for nearly an hour. SLO County prosecutors charged Arata with 13 misdemeanors, and also filed charges against Elias Bautista, Jerad Hill, Sam Grocott, Robert Lastra, Marcus Montgomery, Joshua Powell and Amman Asfaw.
Defense attorneys argued that Dow’s personal political opinions jeopardized the defendants’ rights to a fair trial, and that local prosecutors should be replaced by the California Office of the Attorney General, a request Judge Matt Guerrero approved.
In early Jan. 2021, both state and local prosecutors appealed Guerrero’s ruling to recuse the entire district attorney’s office because it “fell well short of the statutory standard.” They lost that attempt and also a request for a rehearing based on factual errors in the Appellate Court ruling.
The Appellate Court then ordered the opinion published in the official record.
Both state and local prosecutors voiced concerns that this case could create a slippery slope, with defendants asking to recuse prosecutors based on their political leanings. In addition, by publishing the order, the case could lead to a lower statutory standard for disqualifying a prosecutor.
“The legal standard for recusal of a prosecutor has always been a high standard because of the chaos that will result from making it a low standard,” Dow said following the Appellate Court ruling. Prosecutors in every county across California would be recused routinely and it would derail the current criminal and victim justice system if defendants are allowed to ‘shop’ for a prosecutor that shares their unique views on a particular topic.”
The California Supreme Court is likely to decide whether or not it will hear the case in the next two months.
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