Calif. Supreme Court overturns three prosecutorial recusals

The California Supreme Court overturned three decisions that removed prosecutors because of conflicts on interest on Monday, the Los Angeles Times reported.

The court unanimously decided that an appellate court shouldn't have removed Santa Barbara County prosecutor Ronald Zonen for giving his files on fugitive Jesse James Hollywood, because a trial judge had not found that Zonen endangered Hollywood's right to a fair trial. The court wrote that it reversed the ruling by "the Court of Appeal based on its failure to grant appropriate deference to the trial court’s ruling and based on the presence in the record of evidence sufficient to support the trial court’s conclusion that no disqualifying conflict existed and no unlikelihood of a fair trial had been proven." (Hollywood v. Super. Court)

The court also ruled that Santa Barbara County prosecutor Joyce Dudley, who wrote a novel about a rape case similar to one she was going to prosecute, shouldn't have been removed - finding that an "actual likelihood of unfair treatment, not a subjective perception of impropriety" was necessary. (Haraguchi v. Super. Court)

In the third case, the court overturned the removal of Los Angeles County prosecutor Timothy Hu and other deputies from a child molestation case, finding that advocating to prevent the defense access to an alleged victim's medical and psychological records didn't constitute representing the victim's mother or therapist.  (People v. Super. Ct.).