Attorney general should do the right thing. Dismiss the case against Tianna Arata | OPINION
San Luis Obispo County’s far-right district attorney will not be allowed to continue his over-zealous crusade against Tianna Arata, the young leader of a 2020 Black Lives Matter march in SLO whose arrest made national headlines.
The California Supreme Court declined to hear an appeal of lower-court rulings that prevented Dow — along with his entire office — from handling the case due to a conflict of interest.
It was the right call.
From the start, Dow seemed intent on turning this into a political spectacle that would play to his conservative base, going so far as to post a lengthy message on the Protect Paso Facebook page, explaining why he didn’t file felony charges against Arata.
“The law does not support felonies being prosecuted for the conduct in this case — even though that may seem hard to believe to someone who has seen the publicly available video (of the protest),” he wrote. “However, please remember … our laws are written by the super majority in Sacramento.”
Defense attorneys pointed to that post, along with several other examples of bias, in arguing to have Dow removed from the case.
One of the most damaging pieces of evidence was a fundraising email sent by Dow’s wife that referred to the DA’s fight against “the wacky defund the police movement and anarchist groups.”
In his ruling, trial court Judge Matthew Guerrero described the email as a “statement made to potential jurors in an attempt to sway them and get them to make a financial contribution. This interferes with the defendants’ right to a fair trial.”
Precedent-setting decision
The entire episode has become one rebuke after another for Dow.
Not only did he lose his bid to get back on the case, the Supreme Court also rejected a request to “depublish” an earlier ruling by the Court of Appeal.
That means it can be cited in future cases — a development Dow finds highly disturbing.
“Prosecutors in every county across California would be recused routinely and it would derail the current criminal and victim justice system if defendants are allowed to ‘shop’ for a prosecutor that shares their unique views on a particular topic,” he emailed The Tribune back in December.
There’s a simple cure for that: Prosecutors could refrain from sharing “their unique views on a particular topic” and focus on their jobs instead.
Attorney General’s Office now in charge
Unfortunately, the criminal case still isn’t over; the state Attorney General’s Office is now in charge of the prosecution.
We strongly urge the AG’s Office to do what Dow should have done from the beginning: Drop it.
It’s going on three years since Arata and a handful of other protesters were arrested following a march in downtown San Luis Obispo that blocked Highway 101.
The protest was one of thousands that occurred across the nation in the wake of the deaths of George Floyd and Breonna Taylor, who were killed by police in separate incidents.
Numerous arrests were made nationwide, but in the vast majority of cases, the charges were dismissed.
Not here here in San Luis Obispo County, however, where stubborn law enforcement seemed intent on making an example of Arata.
Where is the justice in singling her out, along with a handful of other young adults?
It’s only served to divide us further and opened San Luis Obispo County up to criticism.
Defense 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. How can that be?” he asked during a court hearing.
It was a valid question, seeing as how the vast majority of protesters were white and face no charges at all.
Is the Attorney General’s Office able to provide an answer?
As we’ve said before, 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.
It’s past time to end this politically motivated persecution and move on.