WASHINGTON — The corpse was never found. Nor could police in Phoenix turn up the gun. They did have a suspect, but the evidence against Jose Rios Rico for shooting Angela Pinkerton came mostly from addicts and drug dealers.
U.S. Atty. Paul Charlton didn't think the case merited the death penalty. But his superiors in Washington overruled him in August -- they wanted the ultimate punishment.
Charlton is one of eight U.S. attorneys recently fired by the Bush administration. Their departures, which normally might have gone unnoticed, have sparked political outrage on Capitol Hill, where Democrats are charging that the Republican-led Justice Department removed competent prosecutors for political reasons, including two instances in which prosecutors did not bring charges that might have helped Republican candidates.
The growing dispute is beaming a spotlight on the inner workings of federal law enforcement and its linchpin U.S. attorneys system. It is a system whose dynamics are rarely in public view and whose tensions have often played out in the West: the tug and play between prosecutors in the field and top Justice officials in Washington; the efforts by regional offices, where cases are tried, to set their own priorities and guard their autonomy; the clashes that occur when those local decisions run into the dictates of Washington.
The cold war between the Justice Department and the 94 districts can be more strained the farther they are from Washington. Indeed, the eight fired prosecutors included two from San Diego and one each from Washington state, Arizona, Nevada and New Mexico.
In Seattle, John McKay had followed his older brother into the top spot at the U.S. attorney's office. He also had an eye on a federal judgeship someday. Instead, he got bounced, he said, after senior White House officials became displeased over his inaction during a 2004 recount in a razor-thin governor's race, which a Democrat ultimately won.
In Little Rock, Ark., H.E. "Bud" Cummins III was pushed aside, he was told, to make room for a GOP operative for White House political guru Karl Rove.
In San Diego, Carol Lam notched her belt with the conviction of Republican Rep. Randy "Duke" Cunningham of Rancho Santa Fe, only to become embroiled in a political spat with Washington over illegal immigration. She too was let go.
