Pubdate: Fri, 27 Apr 2001
Source: Press Democrat, The (CA)
Copyright: 2001 The Press Democrat
Contact:  http://www.pressdemo.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/348
Author: Victor S. Amstadter
Referenced: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v01/n699/a07.html

DOUBLE STANDARD?

EDITOR: Now let me get this straight. According to an article in your 
paper, a deputy district attorney, during the course of a hotly contested 
and high-profile case, took a handgun to a firing range and, with the 
assistance of a district attorney investigator, put the names of the 
defense attorneys on target silhouettes and fired at them.

Instead of being brought before the State Bar for conduct unbecoming a 
professional, being fired or, at the very least, reprimanded and placed on 
leave pending an investigation, I am informed that the attorney in question 
was given a promotion from a Deputy III to a Deputy IV.

I would bet the house that if a defense attorney put the names of Michael 
Mullins and Greg Jacobs, or for that matter, any deputy district attorney's 
name on a silhouette for his or her target practice, a SWAT team would come 
to his or her home with a search warrant, arrest the attorney for, among 
other things, terrorist threats, have all of his or her weapons confiscated 
and subsequently destroyed, and the district attorney would request 
disciplinary action against him or her by the State Bar. And, of course, 
there would have been a demand from the District Attorney's Office for a 
mistrial. A double standard? What do you think?

Victor S. Amstadter, Santa Rosa
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MAP posted-by: Jo-D