Los Angeles County District Attorney

A union representing deputy district attorneys filed a lawsuit last week against Los Angeles County and Dist. Atty. Steve Cooley alleging the department's senior managers retaliated against employees for unionizing last year. The complaint accuses Los Angeles County's top law enforcer of using "19th century thuggery commonly employed against union organizers," including punitive work transfers. The Assn. of Deputy District Attorneys, which began representing about 1,000 Los Angeles County prosecutors in March 2008, is currently in the midst of contract negotiations with the district attorney's office and the county.

Los Angeles County prosecutors acknowledged Tuesday that they failed to inform a West Covina woman about a plea deal in December that allowed her estranged husband out of jail after he pleaded guilty to threatening her with a stun gun. The lapse is one of several decisions the district attorney's office is investigating after Curtis Bernard Harris, 34, kidnapped Monica Thomas-Harris, 37, and killed her before taking his own life over the weekend at a Whittier motel.

Despite facing a looming budget crunch, county supervisors will today consider giving Los Angeles County Dist. Atty. Steve Cooley a 23% pay raise in an attempt to keep his salary on par with those of other county department heads and top prosecutors elsewhere in the state. If three of the five supervisors approve the proposal, Cooley would make $292,300 a year, up from his current $236,829. Such a raise would make Cooley the highest-paid elected official in Los Angeles County government.

The Los Angeles County district attorney's Public Integrity Unit is reviewing whether a high-level consultant for the Los Angeles Unified School District's building program engaged in a conflict of interest. David Demerjian, head of the unit, said Wednesday that his office has been looking at Bassam Raslan, a district regional director of construction and an owner of TBI Associates, which he co-founded to supply staff to the district's $20-billion school construction effort.

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 former prostitute serving life in prison for murdering her abusive pimp sued Los Angeles County Dist. Atty. Steve Cooley on Thursday, contending that he reneged on a promise that would have shaved significant time off her sentence, attorneys said.

Deborah Peagler thought she would be home for Christmas. Eight months ago, Los Angeles County Dist. Atty. Steve Cooley said Peagler should be freed from the life prison term she has been serving for 23 years for helping to kill her live-in boyfriend in an Inglewood park. Cooley said then that he believed Peagler, 46, had been a battered woman. That was not considered in 1983 when she pleaded guilty to first-degree murder to avoid a death sentence.

The Los Angeles County district attorney has charged a former radiologist at Martin Luther King Jr./Drew Medical Center with failing to pay state taxes in 2004, when he was billing the county for marathon shifts at the troubled public hospital in Willowbrook, just south of Watts. The district attorney's office Tuesday charged Dr. Harold A. Tate, 46, with one felony count of tax evasion, which carries a maximum term of three years in state prison.

Alarmed by what they say is a new generation of paparazzi willing to take dangerous risks to get celebrity photos, Los Angeles law enforcement officials say they are considering a new tool: felony conspiracy charges. Los Angeles County prosecutors have been exploring the possibility of bringing conspiracy cases against individuals or companies they believe may be orchestrating some of the riskiest photo ambushes.

After six years of working at prestigious law firms, Daniel Friedland jumped ship, took a big pay cut and joined the Los Angeles County district attorney's office. "It's important for me to be involved in public service," said the 31-year-old Friedland, who has been prosecuting misdemeanor drunk driving, assault and battery cases at courthouses across the county. "Working for the D.A.'s office is a great way to make a difference, and I wanted to make a difference in the town I grew up in."