Opinion ID: 2621193
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 11

Heading: Violation of recusal order

Text: Defendant speculates that an investigator in the Kern County District Attorney's Office passed confidential information to the deputy attorney general who prosecuted the case, despite an order recusing the Kern County District Attorney's Office from prosecuting the case. Defendant is unable to provide evidence in the record indicating that any such conduct took place. On the contrary, the deputy attorney general who prosecuted the case stated on the record that the former deputy district attorney whose prior contact with defendant necessitated the recusal order never had disclosed confidential information to the investigator, and that neither the former deputy district attorney nor the investigator had disclosed confidential information to the deputy attorney general who prosecuted the case. Defendant counters that the recusal order required the recusal of the entire Kern County District Attorney's Office, and that this order was affirmed by the Court of Appeal. Defendant claims that contrary to the order, the deputy attorney general continued to use the resources of the Kern County District Attorney's Office, including the services of Newport, an investigator who previously had worked for Felice, the deputy district attorney whose contact with defendant necessitated the recusal order. As respondent points out, however, defendant abandoned this claim at the trial level, never asking the court, which had declined to rule before submission of points and authorities, for a ruling on the motion and never filing the points and authorities requested by the trial court. (See People v. Pinholster (1992) 1 Cal.4th 865, 931, 4 Cal.Rptr.2d 765, 824 P.2d 571; People v. Kaurish (1990) 52 Cal.3d 648, 680, 276 Cal.Rptr. 788, 802 P.2d 278.)