Alameda County DA Pamela Price’s office appeals ruling barring her from prosecuting longtime critic
Alameda County District Attorney Pamela Price’s office is challenging a judge’s decision last week that barred her from prosecuting one of her loudest political critics in a high-profile misdemeanor case.
Price’s office filed an appeal Monday seeking to be placed back onto the case of Amilcar “Butch” Ford, who was charged over the summer with violating a little-used section of the state’s business and professions code. The move came less than a week after an Alameda County judge recused Price’s office from the case, citing concerns of political bias by Price and the numerous statements she had made against Ford.
The appeal appeared to likely to delay the case for at least a month, if not far longer. And it raised fresh uncertainty over whether the California Attorney General’s Office would end up prosecuting the case, as Judge James Cramer had ordered last week.
During a hearing Tuesday, Cramer cited the appeal in issuing a stay on his Jan. 3 decision. As a result, Price’s office and prosecutor Leah Abraham were placed back onto the case while the appeal is pending.
A planned Jan. 22 trial date also was cancelled in favor of a pretrial hearing on Feb. 27.
On Tuesday, Ford’s attorney criticized the move by Price’s team, saying it lacked merit and would likely extend the case beyond the conclusion of a recall effort aimed at the DA. Opponents of the district attorney are currently collecting signatures seeking to call a recall election against Price, who took office in January 2023.
“This is just being dragged out,” said Ford’s attorney, Ernie Castillo. “We are going to ride this out until it dies.”
Abraham declined to comment Tuesday.
Ford was charged in July with a single count of defending after public prosecution as the prosecutor — a misdemeanor charge stemming from a declaration he filed while still employed by Price. The sworn statement supported police union attorney Michael Rains’ bid to disqualify the district attorney from a case against Jason Fletcher, a former San Leandro police officer who faces a manslaughter charge in the 2020 on-duty shooting death of Steven Taylor.
If convicted, Ford could end up being disbarred.
Ford has repeatedly criticized Price over the years, most notable last year at a rally against Price on the steps of the René C. Davidson Courthouse in downtown Oakland. He was under paid administrative leave at the time, which Price had placed him on in the early days of her tenure. He has since left Price’s staff to work for San Francisco District Attorney Brooke Jenkins.
In booting the DA’s office from the case on Jan. 3, Cramer said Price had “every right” to speak out against Ford and his alleged actions. But he said the frequency and fervor of Price’s statements were cause for concern, pointing to press releases and social media posts.
“I’m not saying she has expressed an opinion that a member of the public cannot express — she has every right to do so,” Cramer said. “The problem here for me is that the elected district attorney has made repeated comments about the defendant in this case, Mr. Ford.”