By Audrey Sawyer and Nevya Patel
OAKLAND, CA — Alameda District Attorney Pamela Price briefly addressed misconduct within her office and announced immediate changes, including the resignation of Chief Assistant District Attorney Otis Bruce, Jr., during a press conference held this week here.
Price acknowledged how her office is reorganizing its efforts, citing how they have a consolidation of all of the branches in which prosecutors work every day, “essentially collaborating with the courts to bring cases to fruition and prosecute cases.”
She announced that this division would be headed by Assistant District Attorney Evanthia Pappas.
“When I took office, we found that not only was the office understaffed but a lot of people had not been promoted in this organization,” Price said. “So we’ve been able to do that quite a bit over the last year and certainly accelerated in the last six months and we’re really proud of that. I think that is all that I wanted to say.”
As the floor opened for questions, Price confirmed Otis Bruce, Jr.’s resignation, noting, “The impact on the office is such that it will continue to grow. We are blessed with having Evanthia step up and take over the prosecution’s division…I think that it will be a great opportunity…for others who have been long-time prosecutors in this office to prosper in the office. So we appreciate everything that Otis Bruce, Jr., has done for us.”
Price also faced questions regarding 35 death penalty cases and how many of those included misconduct, to which she replied she could not confirm any details because of “how many cases because we are having to go through each one and we’re evaluating the evidence in each one.”
A concern was also raised about the charges prosecutors unconstitutionally excluded Black people and Jews and those part of the LGBTQ+ community on juries.
“I have no reason to believe that the notes that were disclosed by someone to the media or not actually from a file in this office. I could say that,” was Price’s response to that question.
When asked a question about the prosecutors union and their support for the recall election (of Price) she stated the union has been in support of this recall, citing that they donated $125,000 and fundraised an additional $75,000 to her opponent’s campaign.
“The timing is indicative of the fact that this office has had a legacy and history of unethical behavior and it’s obviously something that no one wanted us to uncover or certainly to expose to the public,” said Price, adding the union represents a small portion of her employees at the DA’s office.
Price also charged the union has “consistently opposed our efforts to reform this office.”
Price detailed the differences between her leadership of the office and others, explaining, “At this point, I can say the final straw for the prosecutor’s union was for our investigation of the death penalty cases, and the disclosure of the misconduct.
“I do believe they are threatened by our review of past misconduct, I do believe that too many prosecutors in this office were raised with very different values than the values that this community holds today. The office being led today under my leadership does not believe in violating the constitutional rights of our residents or defendants by excluding people from juries based on race, their sexuality, sexual orientation, or their religion.
“I am sure some (leaders in) the prosecutor’s union have a problem with that. The whole world is watching and horrified by what we have uncovered as prosecutorial misconduct in this office. Our efforts to hold them accountable for this kind of misconduct has been met with resistance, before we arrived and since we have arrived.”
According to Price, what the public ought to know regarding the vote currently is that the vote represents a small percentage of their workforce, noting, “We have approximately 433 employees. Only 145 lawyers on our payroll are eligible to be union members, and not all lawyers in this office are represented by union members.
“They are saying 85 percent of their membership voted, only 123 [out of 433 employees]. If they got a majority, that would be 61. Less than 14 percent of our employees represent unhappy people. I did not come to the DA’s office to create a hostile work environment. Anyone who says that is misrepresenting what is occurring.”
Price emphasized that the office has been “blessed” with a pipeline of people who want to come work there, lawyers included. Price explained they recently negotiated a new contract with the prosecutor’s union, now the second highest paid in the Bay Area.
Price said wages are in the $126,000 to $300,000 range, adding, “Do not feel sorry for them, we have a steady pipeline of new attorneys, people who come who want to have an ethical prosecutor’s office.”
A reporter asked her to confirm that not all attorneys are part of the union. Being part of the union is voluntary according to Price.
Price explained during the footage that they are having settlement conferences.
“We are under a mandate to participate in these, along with settlement negotiations, these are court mandated of all cases currently pending in federal court. Participants in that process are our office, representatives from the state attorney general’s office, as well as lawyers representing individuals serving death row sentences,” said Price.
Price was asked if she is convinced there are no prosecutors left in the office that were involved in “alleged misconduct.”
Price responded there are no longer prosecutors in the office involved in the alleged misconduct, and that “some of the behavior we believe in addition violates the constitution may be criminal,” concluding that they are discussing these concerns with the State Bar of California and cannot comment any further.
