When Pamela Price was sworn in as Alameda County District Attorney in 2023, she promised a reckoning with the criminal legal system's injustices, including police and prosecutorial misconduct. And she brought a new philosophy to the DA's office, focusing on rehabilitation instead of punishment for youth, and reducing the use of prosecutorial tools like enhancements additional charges that add time to defendants' sentences.
The attorney for a former San Leandro police officer charged with manslaughter in a 2020 death of Steven Taylor wants a judge to toss the case, amid claims of unscrupulous behavior by a since-departed Alameda County prosecutor. The request on behalf of Jason Fletcher who has since retired from the San Leandro Police Department comes less than two months after the officer's attorney, Michael Rains, accused one Alameda County prosecutor of unethical behavior.
The Alameda County District Attorney's Office conceded that parts of what jurors used to find Steven Buggs guilty of murder appeared to be plagued by evidentiary problems, amid allegations that Tran may have coerced a teenager into pointing the finger at Buggs during an unrecorded interview.
The prosecution's handling of Tory Lanez's case has raised questions about fairness in sentencing, particularly given the legal enhancements applied, which many believe to be excessive for this specific case.
