District Attorney

The district attorney for five Panhandle counties was arrested in a courtroom in Pampa and charged with possession of methamphetamine and cocaine. Rick Roach, 55, was charged with possessing at least 1 ounce of the drugs with the intent to distribute. Kathy Colvin, a spokeswoman with the U.S. attorney's office in Dallas, said the case involved an ongoing criminal investigation, and details related to Roach's arrest remained sealed under court order.

Re "Children Have a Right to Support," Aug. 16. This article misleads the reader into believing that the district attorney's involvement is a bright, shining sword in the child-support enforcement area and that children everywhere are benefiting. Nothing could be further from the truth. Once again, children are merely pawns in a game to expand big government. Very few children benefit more by money than by a noncustodial parent's involvement in his or her life on a day-to-day basis.

The Los Angeles County district attorney's office has taken over prosecution of two top-ranking officials at Mobil's Torrance refinery on charges that they contributed to the death of a contract worker and the injuries of two others in an explosion on July 15, 1988. The case, brought originally by Torrance City Prosecutor J. D. Lord, also names three top officials of Cal Cat Chemical Inc. of Benicia.

The Ventura County district attorney's office is seeking volunteers to help resolve disputes between consumers and businesses. Consumer mediators, who are asked to serve for at least six months, provide both consumers and businesses with information regarding their legal rights and obligations. They also try to help resolve disputes between consumers and businesses without litigation.

John Lynch, who nearly defeated Dist. Atty. Gil Garcetti in 1996, endorsed Garcetti challenger Steve Cooley on Wednesday, saying the veteran prosecutor has the experience and integrity to handle what is looming as a major crisis, the Rampart Division police scandal. "We cannot take the risk of mismanaging the gravest challenge to the criminal justice system we have faced," Lynch told reporters gathered outside the downtown Criminal Courts Building.

The race to become Los Angeles County's top prosecutor took final shape Wednesday in what promises to be an election dogfight, with one candidate announcing plans to sue to prevent L.A. City Atty. Carmen Trutanich from calling himself "chief prosecutor" on the June ballot. With Wednesday's deadline up for would-be district attorney candidates, the field is set for Trutanich and five county prosecutors to battle for the chance to run the most powerful office in the county's criminal justice system — one responsible for prosecuting roughly 60,000 felony cases a year, including murders, rapes and robberies.

Sheriff's deputies are expected to present their case today against former Dodger Willie Davis to the Compton-Lynwood District Attorney's office. Davis, 55, was arrested at his parents' home near Gardena early Friday morning after allegedly threatening to kill them and burn down the house unless they gave him $5,000. He is being held in L.A. County jail on bonds of $150,000 for making terrorist threats and $413 for a previous offense. On Aug.

It's a tidy coincidence that Jackie Lacey, newly elected as Los Angeles County's first female and first African American district attorney, is a graduate of the city's Susan Miller Dorsey High School, named for L.A.'s first female schools superintendent. Lacey was sworn in in December, and she's now ensconced in the D.A.'s offices on the criminal courthouse's 18th floor, where her picture will join those of 160 years' worth of white men who've held the title, among them Gen. George S. Patton's father.

Los Angeles County Dist. Atty. Steve Cooley said Tuesday that he would not run for a fourth term as the county's top prosecutor, ending intense speculation and setting the stage for the most competitive district attorney's race in more than a decade. Cooley had remained coy for months about his political future and his decision promises to have a dramatic effect on the 2012 election campaign, which features several candidates who had promised to pull out if Cooley ran again. Cooley told The Times that many of his law enforcement supporters encouraged him to seek reelection but that he decided instead to help Chief Deputy Dist.