Judges uphold Alameda DA's recusal from Butch Ford case
The appellate panel upheld a prior ruling that found a conflict "so grave as to render it unlikely" that Ford would get fair treatment.
The decision to bar the Alameda County DA's office from a case involving a political rival of DA Pamela Price will stand, a panel of judges has ruled.
Last year, Price charged Butch Ford with a misdemeanor, alleging prosecutorial misconduct in the form of helping the defense in a fatal police shooting case.
Ford, a veteran Alameda County prosecutor who left the office after Price's election, has been an outspoken critic of Price for years. He's said political retribution motivated Price to pursue the case against him.
In January, Alameda County Judge James Cramer granted a defense motion to recuse the entire DA's office from the case, noting that Price's "overarching comments" about the case had been "outside the realm of what is normal in a criminal proceeding."
Last week, a local appellate panel of judges agreed with Cramer's ruling.
"We defer to the sound exercise of the court's discretion which found both a conflict of interest and that the conflict to be so grave as to render it unlikely" that Ford would "receive fair treatment," the three-judge panel wrote in a brief ruling July 26.
The judges — Jason Clay, Lupe Garcia and Scott Patton — reviewed the case as part of Alameda County Superior Court's Appellate Division, the misdemeanor equivalent of the state Courts of Appeal.
There was no hearing on the matter because neither side requested the chance to make oral arguments, the court said.
"We're glad that the appellate division of the superior court made the right call on this," said attorney Ernesto Castillo, part of Butch Ford's defense team. "We are hopefully heading to a swift resolution in this case, which I think should be a dismissal."
"We are looking forward to wrapping this up," he added.
The DA's office could now appeal the appellate ruling, but Castillo said there had been no indication that would happen.
The DA's office did not respond Friday afternoon to a request for comment.
The Attorney General's Office is now set to take on the case, which is scheduled to return to court Aug. 29.
Emilie Raguso
Butch Ford and Pamela Price: A contentious history
DA Price charged Ford with a misdemeanor in July of last year, alleging that he broke the law by helping a defendant while he was an Alameda County prosecutor.
If found guilty, he could be disbarred.
Price claims Ford "breached several professional rules and codes of conduct" when he talked with his attorney about a fatal police shooting case being prosecuted by her office against former San Leandro cop Jason Fletcher.
Ford says he's done nothing wrong and that Price is going after him because he's a whistleblower, vocally criticizing Price and her administration.
Ford has also been a strong proponent of the recall effort against Price.
The two have butted heads politically for years. Price placed Ford on administrative leave within weeks of taking office.
Before making his recusal ruling in January, Judge Cramer summarized the "fraught relationship" between Price and Ford and described some of Price's online posts about him.
Those posts included accusations of misconduct as well as claims that Ford was not trustworthy.
Ford has never been found to have committed prosecutorial misconduct, according to the State Bar of California.
Price also emailed the entire DA's office after filing the misdemeanor case against Ford alleging that he "broke the public trust and betrayed our office."
In the months that followed, her office issued press releases about minor developments in the case, including updates about "rulings on little motions," which the defense said was unusual and showed Price's strong interest in the outcome of the proceedings.
In January, Cramer also referenced a now-deleted DA's office post on X, about a decision that Ford would be booked, which included an image emphasizing the word "conviction."
"Focusing on the word 'conviction' makes it crystal clear, to me at least, what the DA and the DA's office wants in this case," Cramer said. "The repeated comments on a misdemeanor case that have nothing to do with the facts of the case or anything … when she puts them out to her office, when she puts them out to the public of potential jurors, I do find that there is both an appearance of conflict of interest … and there is a likelihood of unfairness that could have a strong negative effect on the discretionary power exercised before or during or after trial."
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Emilie Raguso
Emilie Raguso
Emilie Raguso
Emilie Raguso
