SLO County DA bungled the Tianna Arata case — now attorney general should kill it

The case against Tianna Arata and other Black Lives Matter protesters is now out of the hands of the San Luis Obispo County District Attorney’s Office — a big win for a defense team that managed to flip the script by putting the competence of the DA on trial.

Superior Court Judge Matthew Guerrero ruled Friday that District Attorney Dan Dow has a conflict of interest and disqualified his entire office from prosecuting the case.

The judge made the correct call.

For that, he’s already being attacked by Dow’s conservative political followers who fail to recognize their “warrior for the right” has bungled things.

The ruling does not mean the case is done, however; the California Attorney General’s Office could take over.

That would be a huge mistake; the AG’s Office would be inheriting a case that’s been mishandled from the start.

Dow caved to pressure, but not from the left

The fault doesn’t just lie with the district attorney.

Early on, former San Luis Obispo Police Chief Deanna Cantrell miscalculated when she singled out Arata, a young Black activist, for arrest in order to teach her a lesson. Making matters worse, she recommended felony charges, while at the same time saying she didn’t want a criminal record to ruin the young woman’s life.

Then, in a major embarrassment for the District Attorney’s Office, a witness reported that a DA’s investigator tried to goad him into saying he had feared for his safety during the protest march.

In the latest chapter of this fiasco, the DA responds to being kicked off the case by falsely claiming he has acted “above reproach without bending to popular opinion and public pressure.”

It’s true that Dow did not budge on demands from social activists that he drop the charges against Arata and other protesters.

But he absolutely caved to pressure from his right-wing base. Why else would he have sought their absolution by posting a lengthy response on a far-right, private Facebook page, explaining why he didn’t file felony charges against Arata?

“Please know that misdemeanors are significant as criminal behavior. ... It’s not like a misdemeanor is a speeding ticket,” he wrote in an obvious effort to placate his conservative critics.

And now we learn that he also used Arata’s prosecution as a fundraising tool. Less than 48 hours after Dow’s decision was announced, his wife sent this email to his supporters:

“Dan needs to know more than ever that you support him, and he really needs your financial support so he can keep leading the fight in SLO County against the wacky defund the police movement and anarchist groups that are trying to undermine the rule of law and public safety in our community.”

Guerrero’s ruling makes it clear that such conduct is not permissible.

“(The) statement used inflammatory terms such as ‘anarchist,’ ‘crazy,’ and ‘wacky,’ which is an extrajudicial statement made to potential jurors in an attempt to sway them and get them to make a financial contribution,” he wrote in his ruling. “This interferes with the defendants’ right to a fair trial.”

It’s telling that Dow’s response to the judge’s ruling is a general denial that mentions nothing about the judge’s specific concerns.

This case is looking more and more like an opportunity for the district attorney to score points from supporters — and campaign contributions — rather than a legitimate effort to pursue justice.

Why attorney general shouldn’t take case

Enough time and taxpayer money have been wasted on this. The California Attorney General’s Office doesn’t need to continue running up the bill on a lost cause.

Prosecutors in other communities across the nation are recognizing that by dismissing cases against protesters.

According to The New York Times, “cases involving free speech or free assembly rarely succeed in court, according to prosecutors across the country.”

Another problem for prosecutors: Defense attorneys are arguing discrimination, based on the fact that Black people were oftentimes arrested and prosecuted in disproportionately greater numbers than white people.

That’s the situation in SLO County, where the majority of protesters were white, but most of those charged with crimes are people of color.

Arata’s attorney, Patrick Fisher, argued that systemic racism must be behind the SLO County district attorney’s case.

“Six out of the eight people charged for this protest are non-white,” he said at a recent court hearing. “How can that be?”

Arata, 20, and her three co-defendants — Marcus Montgomery, 24, Joshua Powell, 23, and Amman Asfaw, 22 — have pleaded not guilty to various misdemeanor charges, including false imprisonment, obstructing a public thoroughfare, vandalism, and resisting arrest in connection with a July 21 protest that included a blockade of Highway 101.

A fifth defendant, Elias Bautista, 23, faces a felony charge for allegedly kicking a San Luis Obispo police officer in the groin.

Three other men also face charges in a separate protest case.

Selective prosecution

When it comes to rules he doesn’t like, Dow is willing to look the other way.

For instance, he declared San Luis Obispo County a sanctuary for religious freedom during the COVID-19 pandemic, meaning he won’t prosecute people who violate bans on certain activities, such as singing in church.

Just last week, he announced he would not even consider filing misdemeanor charges against businesses accused of violating COVID-19 restrictions until cities have exhausted all civil remedies.

“There is no sense in labeling a business owner or a business as a criminal for choosing to keep their business open in a manner that adequately protects their customers — who, by the way, are not being forced to enter their business.”

Yet he has no compunction about labeling young protesters criminals when they speak out against the killings of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor and the many other Black people who have died at the hands of police.

Dow was elected to be district attorney for all of San Luis Obispo County, yet he clearly favors his like-minded allies.

Judge Guerrero’s ruling recognized that.

We strongly urge the Attorney General’s Office to do so as well and decline to take over prosecution of the Tianna Arata case.

This story was originally published December 15, 2020 at 5:30 AM.