District Attorneys

Larry Chisolm, the first black district attorney in Chatham County, Ga., was sitting in his modern, sixth-floor office, tolerating an interview but declining to speak about the problem that he may have to address soon -- the one that could come to define and complicate the rest of his young political career. It is a problem he inherited. The problem of death row inmate Troy Davis.

Three-quarters of California's elected district attorneys refused to disclose how they choose defendants to face the death penalty, according to a report slated for presentation at a public hearing in Los Angeles today. In a report to the California Commission on the Fair Administration of Justice, which is examining how the death penalty is applied in California, Pepperdine law school professors Harry M.

Prosecutors have long been shielded from lawsuits brought by people who were wrongly convicted. Even if a defendant is later shown to be entirely innocent, the prosecutor who brought the charges cannot be held liable for the mistake. The Supreme Court has ruled that "absolute immunity" is needed so that prosecutors -- and judges -- can do their jobs without fear of legal retaliation. But a California case that the high court is considering taking could open a back door for such lawsuits.

A Los Angeles judge Friday removed the entire district attorney's office from a high- profile case in which a woman imprisoned for murdering her abusive boyfriend in 1982 contends that county prosecutors agreed to support her release but then reneged on the deal. The unusual ruling was welcomed by attorneys for Deborah Peagler, 48, as a key victory in her ongoing battle for freedom, which they said had been blocked by internal squabbling and prosecutorial misconduct within Dist. Atty.

As he waged a successful campaign to become L.A.'s top prosecutor eight years ago, Steve Cooley blasted then-Dist. Atty. Gil Garcetti for seeking a third term and vowed he would never do the same. "If you can't accomplish what you're going to accomplish in two terms," he declared, "move on." That was then. Today, after serving two terms as district attorney, Cooley has no plans to move on or make good on his 2000 pledge to voters.

In the final week of campaigning before Tuesday's election, Los Angeles County Dist. Atty. Steve Cooley drew fire Friday over a deal he made with judges and defense attorneys two years ago to postpone seeking tougher sanctions against some serious sex offenders who had already served their prison sentences.

San Francisco Dist. Atty. Kamala D. Harris filed papers Wednesday to run for California attorney general in 2010 but said she would withdraw if incumbent Jerry Brown, a fellow Democrat, decides to run for reelection rather than for governor as widely expected. "I'm a career prosecutor, and the work we've done in the San Francisco district attorney's office I want to bring statewide," Harris said. She said she plans to propose "new ideas" for strengthening the state's criminal justice system.

Riverside County Dist. Atty. Rod Pacheco was sworn in Tuesday afternoon, taking over from Grover Trask, who oversaw the rapid expansion of the office for more than two decades and made Riverside County's conviction rate among the highest in California. At a ceremony on the steps of the Riverside County courthouse, Trask said Pacheco -- a former deputy -- had the competence, track record and integrity to take over one of the largest district attorney's offices in the nation.

Douglas Fuchs, an assistant U.S. attorney in Los Angeles who successfully prosecuted the long-running Homestore Inc. accounting fraud case, is joining the white-collar crimes practice at Gibson Dunn & Crutcher, effective Monday. He follows his former boss, former U.S. Atty. Debra Yang, who was hired by the Los Angeles law firm last fall.

Under investigation for withholding evidence and making prejudicial statements, the prosecutor in the Duke University lacrosse sexual assault case withdrew from the explosive case late Friday. The abrupt departure of Dist. Atty. Mike Nifong further disrupts a prosecution that was already showing signs of unraveling.