SLO County DA’s Office could drop the Tianna Arata case. Instead, it’s cajoling witnesses

The district attorney’s already flimsy case against protest leader Tianna Arata suffered another blow this week when it was revealed that one of the drivers allegedly held “hostage” by a protest on Highway 101 told the prosecution that, one, he did not consider himself a victim, two, he was not scared and, three, he did not want to be part of the case.

Nevertheless, the driver became one of the “John Does” gathered by the prosecution to bolster its case against Arata, the young Black woman who was arrested following the July 21 protest in San Luis Obispo.

A question now is, can the DA’s Office recover from this hit to its credibility, under its existing leadership?

Even if it manages to come away with a handful of misdemeanor convictions, confidence in District Attorney Dan Dow is at such a low that there’s already talk of who might challenge him in an election that’s still two years away.

This latest embarrassment — laid out in a letter written by the driver’s attorney, Gregory Gillett — reveals just how far the office will sink in pursuing this sham of a case.

The letter shows that a DA’s investigator tried to goad John Doe into essentially lying about about his experience.

“Even after Mr. Doe indicated there was nothing to fear about the incident, the investigator insisted that ‘it would really help us out if you were scared,’” reads the letter, which was sent to the DA’s Office and obtained by The Tribune.

The investigator, who is not named in the letter, also tries to use some amateur psychology on John Doe.

“’Sometimes men are afraid to admit they are scared,” the driver said the investigator told him.

And even though John Doe said he wanted no further contact about the case, the DA’s Office continued to press him to make a demand for restitution.

But he was having none of it. The letter says he “takes issue with the accuracy and manner of your office’s investigation,” and that the form of questioning from the investigator was “inappropriate.”

Good for Mr. Doe for standing firm and not letting himself be talked into serving as the prosecution’s stooge.

Certainly, there are times when investigators need to use the power of persuasion to get a reluctant witness to talk.

But this isn’t one of them.

This is pathetic manipulation intended to advance what attorney Gillett said appeared to be a “determined outcome.”

Is that how the office goes about its investigative business, looking to cajole and lead witnesses? Is this what happens outside the courtroom, when there isn’t a judge present to reprimand them?

It’s more than clear that the district attorney is marshaling all the powers of his office to prosecute some young people for an act of civil disobedience amid a nationwide social justice movement — while allowing motorists who purposely drove into the path of protesters off the hook, apparently because they feared for their safety at the hands of the “rioting mob.”

Then one driver comes along and speaks out in a way that doesn’t fit the narrative. How inconvenient for the DA.

Of course, it’s not the first mistake law enforcement has made in this case.

Targeting a vocal Black woman, when the vast majority of participating protesters were white, was a huge one.

Piling on a bunch of facile charges, with no regard for the context of the moment, was another.

The defense has, in fact, filed a motion arguing that the case should be dropped on First Amendment grounds, saying Arata was singled out from the mostly white crowd.

That seemed to get the DA’s attention, so what does the office do in response, just days before that motion was scheduled to be heard?

It files charges against six additional protesters — three of them Black and three of them white.

What convenient timing. You know, there’s an acronym for this kind of transparent maneuvering.

It’s CYA.

While Dan Dow isn’t totally responsible for this ongoing farce — it was former Police Chief Deanna Cantrell who had Arata arrested and recommended filing felony charges against her — he certainly owns it now.

This mess is his baby, and now he’s dragging members of his staff into it as well, including those who weren’t supportive of filing charges against Arata to begin with but now must stand by silently while their leader trashes their reputation as fair defenders of justice.

Aside from the charges facing eight protesters, that’s the long-term — and equally disgraceful — impact of this case.

This is getting tiresome in its need for repetition. But we’ll say it again, and we’ll keep saying it as long as this charade continues.

Dan Dow should stop doubling down on a thinly veiled crusade that has no punitive merit and even less social value.

He should accept and admit when he’s wrong, even if it tweaks his base. This isn’t about them. They’ll get over it.

Then, he should stop working to divide our community and lean his shoulder into healing instead, both within his own office and across the county overall.

Dan Dow, do the right thing.

This story was originally published October 22, 2020 at 1:36 PM.