Alameda County District Attorney Pamela Price pauses while speaking during a press conference in Oakland, Calif., in on Wednesday, Nov. 8, 2023. Price discussed the case of Maurice Monk, who died in Santa Rita Jail in 2021 after spending 34 days behind bars, unable to post bond.
OAKLAND — A judge barred Alameda County District Attorney Pamela Price’s office on Wednesday from prosecuting her biggest critic in a misdemeanor case.
The case will now be handled by the California Attorney General’s Office.
Alameda County Superior Court Judge James Cramer ruled that Price’s office has a “significant conflict of interest” in prosecuting Amilcar “Butch” Ford, a former employee of hers who was charged over the summer with violating a little-used section of the state’s business and professions code.
In making his ruling, Cramer said Price had “every right” to speak out against Ford and his alleged actions. But he raised concerns about how often — and with how much apparent vigor — Price appeared to publicly speak about Ford, citing numerous press releases issued about Ford’s case since charging him in July. It was particularly unusual, given Ford only faced a misdemeanor.
“I’m not saying she has expressed an opinion that a member of the public cannot express — she has every right to do so,” Cramer said. “The problem here for me is that the elected district attorney has made repeated comments about the defendant in this case, Mr. Ford.”
After the hearing, one of Ford’s attorneys hailed the decision as vindication of months of concerns about Price’s apparent bias against Ford.
“This is a bogus charge — this is the most frivolous charge I’ve ever seen” in 20 years as an East Bay defense attorney, said the attorney, Ernie Castillo.
Leah Abraham, the prosecutor in charge of the case, declined to comment, as did a spokesperson for the Alameda County District Attorney’s Office.
Ford has repeatedly sparred with Price over the years — even appearing at a rally in April on the steps of the Rene C. Davidson Courthouse in downtown Oakland calling for her to be recalled. He was under paid administrative leave at the time, which Price had placed him on in the early days of her tenure. Later in April, Ford left the Alameda County District Attorney’s Office for a job as a prosecutor under San Francisco District Attorney Brooke Jenkins.
On July 17, Price announced a single charge against Ford of defending after public prosecution as the prosecutor — a little known section of the state’s business and professions code that, if convicted, could lead to Ford being disbarred.
It stemmed from a declaration he filed while still employed by Price that supported an East Bay attorney’s bid to disqualify the district attorney from the case of Jason Fletcher. Fletcher, a former San Leandro police officer, faces a manslaughter charge in the 2020 on-duty shooting death of Steven Taylor.
In the sworn declaration, Ford described multiple conversations he had with Kwixuan Maloof, then the head of Price’s Public Accountability Unit. It included one instance where Maloof allegedly said, “I came here to charge cops. They better be ready. They better Google me,” according to the court declaration.
In announcing his decision on Wednesday, Cramer stressed that his ruling was not intended as any statement about the facts of the case, or whether Ford is guilty of the charge. A hearing has been set for Jan. 9, where the state Attorney General’s Office is expected to make its first appearance in the case.
A trial has tentatively been set for late January.
Check back for updates to this developing story.
Originally published at Jakob Rodgers