Legal Pad

Bock Readies TV Ad for S.F. DA Race

[Cynthia Foster]

Sharmin Bock, candidate for San Francisco district attorney, wants you to know just how serious she is. 

In a new television ad, the first of the campaign to run for any candidate, Bock appears amid footage of underage prostitutes and police tape to tell you that she’s the only prosecutor in the race. Not only that, she’s the only no-nonsense prosecutor in the race. The ad also touts her 22 years of experience and her 95 percent conviction rate. A recent piece of campaign marketing from rival and former S.F. prosecutor Bill Fazio touts a 97% conviction rate in domestic violence and child sexual assault cases.

Fazio, who said he hasn’t decided yet whether or not he’ll run a TV ad, congratulated Bock on her move into TV and said he thought it was probably a good idea, given that he has more name-recognition than her.

“[Bock and Onek] have to spend a lot of money to get where I’m at,” he said. “It’s not as important to me as it is to [them] because they have to get their names out there.”

Bock lead the other four candidates in fundraising in the last quarter. Bock’s campaign manager, Jon Gollinger, said the ad cost about $5,000 to produce.

Both Bock and Fazio market their prosecutorial experience with very serious faces. Fazio’s got a bit of a smile in the flyer given to me by a Contra Costa County private investigator volunteering for the campaign, but check out those eyes. In Bock’s ad, there’s a lot of purposeful striding but no smiling. In the battle of intense gazes, I’d have to say that Bock comes out with a win.

You can see both Bock’s ad and Fazio’s flyer below.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Rose Bird Makes Campaign Appearance

[Greg Mitchell]

Meg Whitman's campaign released a new ad Friday called "Judicial Failure." The news of Ron George's retirement is a convenient reminder, the narrator says, of the governor's important role in selecting judges -- and a good hook for linking Brown to Rose Bird. Brown named Bird, who at the time had no judicial branch experience, to the chief's job in 1977 only to see her voted out of office by irate voters nine years later.

Not surprisingly, the ad details how Bird overruled every death sentence to come before her. 

But the ad also asserts, with undated, unexplained attribution to the Los Angeles Times, that Brown was known for "cronyism and lack of quality" in his judicial appointments, and suggests many of his judicial appointments were given in exchange for campaign funds.

You can see the ad here.

Riverside DA Incumbent Bested by Judge

[Cheryl Miller]

The suspense ended early in the AG races last night, but that doesn't mean there weren't any eye-popping upsets around the state.

In Riverside County, incumbent DA Rod Pacheco -- often talked of as a future Republican AG candidate -- lost his re-election bid to Superior Court Judge Paul Zellerbach. Zellerbach took a leave of absence from the bench to run for Pacheco's job. You might remember Zellerbach as the judge who was zinged by the Commission on Judicial Performance in 2006 for refusing to leave an Anaheim Angels playoff game to take a jury's verdict in homicide case.

And in the GOP insurance commissioner primary, Brian Fitzgerald, a low-funded, relatively unknown staff attorney in the Department of Insurance, defeated favorite and former Assembly GOP leader Mike Villines in what was the statewide shocker of the night. The Sacramento Bee ran a nice piece on the then-quixotic candidate last week.

We'll have more analysis and commentary on judicial and other legal-world races later in the day, here and on therecorder.com.

Kamala Harris Trounces Chris Kelly in AG Primary

[Cheryl Miller and Kate Moser]

In the end, a crowded field of candidates, low voter turnout and $12.5 million could not beat Kamala Harris.

Flanked by her family, including brother-in-law and U.S. Assistant Attorney General Tony West, Harris declared victory Tuesday night in the Democratic attorney general primary.

“We have a lot of good work ahead of us,” Harris told a cheering crowd at the Delancey Street Foundation in San Francisco. “Let’s celebrate tonight.”

Though May polls of likely voters suggested Harris’ support had stalled, the San Francisco district attorney was leading in 45 of 58 California counties, including vote-rich Los Angeles. She trounced former Facebook executive Chris Kelly in the Bay Area, even taking Kelly’s home county of San Mateo with 46 percent of the vote.

With just under half of the state’s precincts reporting, Harris was leading Kelly 33 percent to 17 percent.

Kelly, who funded his campaign with more than $12 million of his own money, was not ready to concede late Tuesday, still hoping that late returns in Los Angeles –- a market where he had advertised heavily –- would boost his numbers.

He said it was “strange” that Harris’ much-publicized troubles with San Francisco’s crime lab and law enforcement witnesses hadn’t hurt her more with voters. And he called Harris’ attacks on his Facebook tenure as inaccurate and “weird.”

“I feel pretty good,” he said from outside his campaign party in San Jose. “With just 15 percent of the precincts reporting we have over 100,000 votes. That’s success.”

Harris will face off in November against Los Angeles District Attorney Steve Cooley, who was handily defeating two challengers in the Republican primary with 48.6 percent of the vote.

Cooley, who entered the primary relatively late, proved himself to be a proficient fundraiser. And his ability as a Republican to win heavily Democratic Los Angeles County makes him a real threat to put the attorney general’s office under Republican control for the first time in 12 years.

 

O'Malley Lagging in CoCo County DA's Race

[Kate Moser]

While Nancy O'Malley, unopposed, wins her job as Alameda County's DA tonight, her brother is behind in early returns in his race to become Contra Costa's top cop.

Just as his sister was Tom Orloff's chosen successor, Dan O'Malley is retiring DA Bob Kochly's choice.
But unlike his sister, O'Malley -- a former judge, son of a past Contra Costa district attorney, and husband of the superior court's presiding judge --  has been fighting a bitter battle.

With less than a fifth of precincts reporting, O'Malley is behind 34 percent to fellow DA Mark Peterson's
50 percent.

The Contra Costa Times and East Bay Express have detailed the divide in the DA's office between supporters of O'Malley and supporters of Peterson, which erupted in a fistfight between two prosecutors in March.

And Peterson at one point in the race accused O'Malley of improperly soliciting campaign donations from his underlings, but the complaint ultimately fizzled. The office is also caught up in the case of former senior Deputy DA Michael Gressett, who was indicted last October on charges of raping and sodomizing a deputy DA.

A lot is riding on the election tonight for the embattled DA's office, notes the Times in a recent story: "Inside, there is hope that June 8 will mark as much an exorcism as an election."
But if the outcome tonight forces a runoff between O'Malley and Peterson (the third candidate, Elle Falahat, had about 15 percent of the votes in early returns), more campaign shenanigans could be in store for the general election.

Colfax Leading Early in S.F. Bench Race

[Kate Moser]

Early in election night, public defender Linda Colfax is leading the race for an open seat on the San Francisco bench.

With 42 percent of precincts reporting, prosecutor Harry Dorfman is running behind Colfax, with 32 percent of the vote to her 50.

At Mars Bar near the public defender's office, a glowing Colfax gripped her iPhone, beaming every time someone called in to report numbers from another precinct. Colfax said she was "thrilled at this point -- these numbers are great." Supervisor Chris Daly stopped by her party, which was heavily attended by lawyers from her office.

Across town, at the storied Harry's Bar, Dorfman said it was early still but he'd look forward to a runoff with Colfax. Board of Supervisors president David Chiu was checking returns and chatting with Dorfman and others at his party.

Jones Day partner Roderick McLeod, who pledged not to accept campaign donations, has 9 percent of the votes so far, and Robert Retana of the AOC's general counsel office, has 7 percent.

Harris Hits the Airwaves

[Cheryl Miller]

One day after AG candidate Chris Kelly unveiled his first TV ad, here comes Democratic opponent Kamala Harris with her own biographical spot. And yes, coincidentally, it too will start airing today, according to her campaign.

Facebook's Chris Kelly Readies for Screen Shot

[Cheryl Miller]

Expect to see Chris Kelly’s face on television soon: The Democratic attorney general candidate wrote his campaign a $4 million personal check on Tuesday. That brings the Facebook executive’s total out-of-pocket contributions to $8 million.

A statement on Kelly’s campaign Web site said the donation is proof he’s “continuing to run an aggressive campaign to communicate with California’s voters.” That might be an understatement, except that GOP gubernatorial candidates Meg Whitman and Steve Poizner have made that level of personal pocket-dipping look like chump change.

For weeks, Kelly has been hammering fellow candidate Kamala Harris with press releases decrying San Francisco’s crime stats and crime lab woes. Look for that message to transition to the airwaves shortly.

Assembly Candidate Tarred with Trial Lawyer Taint

[Cheryl Miller]

Betsy Butler isn’t a trial lawyer. She isn’t even a lawyer.

But apparently the Assembly candidate’s past work as a fundraiser for the Consumer Attorneys of California carries enough of a taint to make her the target of a pro-MICRA group.

Californians Allied for Patient Protection is running TV ads against Butler, a Democratic candidate in the Los Angeles-area 53rd Assembly District. The spots -- watch a poor quality Quicktime version here -- call Butler a lobbyist’s “best friend” and sneer at her campaign contributions from “wealthy trial lawyers.” What’s worse, Butler is a “Sacramento hypocrite,” a hidden voice charges.

Why the hate? Butler’s work for the CAOC “is very key to what her philosophy is going to be if she’s elected to the state Legislature,” said CAPP executive director Lisa Maas. CAPP spent more than $108,000 on the ad’s production and air time.

Butler campaign consultant Parke Skelton said in a prepared statement that “corporate interests” are picking on the candidate because of her support for environmental and consumer protections.

CAPP reports five-figure contributions in March from the Cooperative of American Physicians and the California Medical Association, two groups eager to see California’s cap on medical malpractice awards stay put.

Butler took in plenty of money from the plaintiff bar -- her list of donors read like a Who’s Who of CAOC leaders -– but her filings also show donations from labor groups, incumbent Democrats and corporations like Boeing, Hewlett-Packard and Norcal Waste Systems.

Ironically, this left-leaning Assembly District has a slew of Democratic candidates running against Butler – including four lawyers -- most of whom would probably support the CAOC’s political agenda. CAPP hasn’t targeted any of them, yet.

As viewers are warned at the end of the Butler ad, “Stay tuned for more.”

Cooley Lands Punch in Brawl Over Ballot Title

[Cheryl Miller]

John Eastman’s quest to let voters know he’s an assistant attorney general (without telling them the title refers to a temporary gig in South Dakota) will head to court next week.

Eastman, a Republican candidate for California attorney general, sued Secretary of State Debra Bowen this week after she rejected his requested “assistant attorney general” ballot title as misleading. Bowen wants Eastman, the former dean of Chapman University School of Law, to use his third choice: “taxpayer advocate / attorney.”

But one of Eastman’s competitors, Los Angeles District Attorney Steve Cooley, thinks both titles are bogus. Today, Sacramento County Superior Court Judge Timothy Frawley let Cooley intervene in the lawsuit and set a hearing on the whole brouhaha for next Thursday.

In February, South Dakota’s attorney general named Eastman a temporary assistant AG for the state so the constitutional law expert could petition the U.S. Supreme Court in a single case: Reisch v. Sisney (The case involves two inmates who claim the state prison system violated their rights to religious freedom).

Eastman argues that work on that case constitutes his primary occupation, and so he should be allowed to use the title on the ballot. But critics, primarily Cooley, accuse Eastman of trying to trick voters into thinking he’s a high-ranking California prosecutor who’s already one step away from the top office he’s trying to win.

Bowen did let stand the job title submitted by a third GOP candidate. Voters will see Tom Harman listed as “prosecutor / attorney / senator” even though “prosecutor” refers to his just-started work in an Orange County program that lets civil litigators work temporarily as criminal attorneys.