Posted on 10/29/2009 10:22:16 AM PDT by NormsRevenge
At the urging of a prominent San Jose lawyer and campaign contributor, Santa Clara County District Attorney Dolores Carr personally intervened on behalf of one of his clients, calling the prosecutor in charge and persuading him to reduce the client's charges.
Carr says she was just "responding" to attorney James McManis as she would to anyone who called, even a stranger. "That's what public servants do," she said.
At the time, she'd received $2,500 from McManis, his wife and his law firm — the maximum allowable before her 2006 election under campaign finance laws. Since then, McManis et al has held a fundraiser for her at Hotel De Anza's Cafe Pastaia in San Jose and donated another $2,000 to her —
Carr's assistance to a leading campaign contributor in April 2008, which is only now coming to light, stands in sharp contrast to the policies of at least four other district attorneys in the state, those in San Francisco, Los Angeles, Santa Cruz and San Mateo counties. All four said they wall themselves off from even the appearance of impropriety such personal involvement suggests.
"The last thing I want is the appearance of influence or bias, so I would never give consideration or a break to a donor or a friend," said Santa Cruz County District Attorney Bob Lee. "We just firewall it. If someone has a problem, they should go to the prosecutor's supervisor like everyone else."
Los Angeles County District Attorney Stephen Cooley also cuts himself off "completely" from any such cases.
"The DA does not engage in those conversations," spokeswoman Sandi Gibbons said, adding that anyone attempting to make such a request of the DA is referred to the attorney handling the case and their immediate supervisors.
(Excerpt) Read more at mercurynews.com ...
Do you know if she isa Dum or rep?
Article doesn’t say.
Santa Clara County = Silicon Valley = Republicans not allowed.
That's why I had to bail.
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