Remember when a San Francisco Judge chastised the San Francisco prosecutor’s office for now disclosing the criminal/un-professional behavior of lab analyst Deborah Madden?
District Attorney Kamala Harris response was to accuse the judge of being biased. How dare a judge not back-up the prosecutor’s office complicity in covering up the crime lab fiasco! Apparently she “didn’t get the memo”.
Well an independent Judge brought up from Monterey County California, has ruled there was no conflict of interest.
An independent judge has denied claims of bias made by prosecutors about another judge who lambasted District Attorney Kamala Harris’ office in the wake of the crime-lab scandal.
In May, Judge Anne-Christine Massullo slammed the District At-torney’s Office for failing to provide information about lab technician Deborah Madden’s criminal past to defense attorneys, which is a violation of the U.S. Constitution.
Harris had placed the blame with the Police Department, which held Madden’s personnel records but failed to provide a history of disciplinary actions to prosecutors.
Massullo, however, said prosecutors were just as much to blame because they work closely with police and that “by at least Nov. 19, 2009, individuals at the highest levels of the District Attorney’s Office knew that Madden was not a dependable witness at trial and that there were serious concerns regarding the crime lab.”
Prosecutors countered with court filings claiming Massullo’s husband was a defense attorney and had appeared on a panel to talk about the so-called Brady issues, creating a conflict of interest that should disqualify Massullo from ruling on the case. Under Brady policy, a witness must disclose any past criminal history.
Monterey County Superior Court Judge Thomas Wills was brought in to rule on the motion and denied it in a decision filed Wednesday.
Keep reading the SFExaminer.com. Maybe we’ll soon learn what the next excuse will be.
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