SLO County DA, state attorney general appeal disqualification in Tianna Arata case
The state Attorney General’s Office and the San Luis Obispo County District Attorney’s Office have appealed the DA’s disqualification by a Superior Court judge from prosecuting the two criminal cases against activist Tianna Arata and six others related to a local Black Lives Matter protest.
The notices of appeal, filed contemporaneously by both agencies Friday, do not go into detail as to why they believe Superior Court Judge Matthew Guerrero’s finding of a conflict in the cases should be reversed.
A trial-setting conference in the case of Arata and co-defendants Marcus Montgomery, Amman Asfaw and Joshua Powell is currently scheduled for Jan. 19. All have been charged with misdmeanor offenses, including false imprisonment.
The appeals were also filed in a separate but related case against protesters Sam Grocott, Robert Lastra and Jerad Hill, who are also charged with misdemeanor vandalism charges. Lastra is facing a felony vandalism charge.
They are scheduled to be in court again Feb. 2.
Arata, 20, and the others are facing charges over a July protest in San Luis Obispo, where about 300 Black Lives Matter protesters marched onto Highway 101, blocking traffic.
On Dec. 11, Guerrero granted a motion filed by the defense requesting the disqualification of District Attorney Dan Dow and his entire office from prosecuting the case due to the defense’s allegation that Dow was pursuing the case for political purposes and conflicted.
Guerrero listed as support of a “clear conflict” a series of comments and public appearances related to opposition of the Black Lives Matter movement, but focused primarily on a Dow political campaign fundraiser that appeared to reference the case.
In that email, Guerrero wrote in his ruling, Dow’s re-election campaign sent a mass email to supporters roughly 48 hours following the DA’s Office filing of charges against Arata that sought financial donations and claimed that Dow was “leading the fight” against the “wacky defund the police” and social justice movement.
Dow has previously criticized Guerrero’s ruling, saying no conflict exists.
Following the ruling, the deputy attorney general assigned to the case, William Frank, requested 30 days to review evidence provided by the DA’s Office to determine the agency’s next steps.
But in an interview Wednesday with KVEC radio host Dave Congalton, Dow said the filing of the appeal was imminent.
“I believe that this particular ruling by our judge here in our county was in error, and I believe the law’s on our side, that the case should not have been taken from our office, and the recusal should not have been granted,” Dow said Wednesday. “Either way, we respect the courts and we’ll see it to the end, and we’ll take whatever decision is made at the higher level.”
