Steve Cooley

Many of the six candidates for Los Angeles County district attorney say they would seek out and prosecute corruption by elected officials, and it's no wonder. The pursuit of allegedly crooked pols is a winner with voters who see one example after another of politicians pushing the ethical envelope. But as an elected official, the district attorney is a politician too, and any effort he or she makes to crack down on government misconduct - or to let it be - is at least to some degree a political act. To ensure that prosecutions do not become persecutions, voters must probe deeply into the candidates' actions and attitudes.

Los Angeles County Dist. Atty. Steve Cooley's three-strikes policy is often articulated simply - and wrongly - as follows: He won't seek a life sentence against a third-time convict unless that third strike is serious or violent. If that were in fact his policy, it would prevent life sentences for petty drug crimes and other nonviolent acts - and it is in essence what is being proposed in an initiative cleared for circulation that California voters may see on their Nov. 6 ballot.

Los Angeles City Atty. Carmen Trutanich announced Thursday that he is jumping into the race for district attorney, drawing attacks from rivals on his integrity in what promises to be a bare-knuckled election fight to become L.A. County's top prosecutor. The announcement came after Trutanich insisted for months that he had not decided whether to formally enter the contest even as he raised nearly $1 million and sought political endorsements. Within minutes of Trutanich declaring his candidacy, a campaign strategist for county prosecutor Alan Jackson criticized Trutanich for violating his promise to voters during his successful 2009 city attorney's campaign not to seek higher office if he won. "It's a window into his soul that the man can't be trusted," said John Thomas, who is running Jackson's campaign but worked for Trutanich in 2009.

With the race for district attorney heating up, Los Angeles City Atty. Carmen Trutanich, the obvious front-runner, recently listed key supporters who endorse him, including the Los Angeles Airport Peace Officers Assn., the Los Angeles School Police Assn. and the National Assn. of Prosecuting Attorneys. The problem: It was news to them. Officials with the three law enforcement groups told The Times last week that they were surprised to learn that Trutanich has touted them as endorsers, saying their organizations have yet to formally decide whom, if anyone, to back, in this year's race to become the county's top prosecutor.

Los Angeles County's jails could run out of space as early as next month because of an influx of state prisoners, prompting officials to consider releasing potentially thousands of inmates awaiting trial. The state's new prison law, which establishes a practice known as realignment, is expected to send as many as 8,000 offenders who would normally go to state prisons into the L.A. County Jail system in the next year. Currently, defendants awaiting trial account for 70% of the jail population, but Sheriff Lee Baca said that might need to drop to 50%. The department is studying a major expansion of it electronic monitoring and home detention programs to keep track of inmates who are released.

Los Angeles City Controller Wendy Greuel is dispatching a team of auditors to pore over the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum's books because of a financial scandal that is already the subject of a criminal investigation. Greuel had been prepared to launch the wide-ranging audit in July but shelved it at the request of Los Angeles County Dist. Atty. Steve Cooley's office, which is conducting the criminal probe. Prosecutors said they were concerned that an audit could hinder their inquiry.

Los Angeles police officials on Wednesday transferred control of the Dodger Stadium beating investigation to the LAPD's elite Robbery-Homicide Division, a move welcomed by Dist. Atty. Steve Cooley, who said it may improve prosecutors' access to information in the case. Until this week, the search for the two men responsible for brutally beating San Francisco Giants fan Bryan Stow on March 31 had been conducted by detectives from the LAPD's Northeast Division. The decision not to assign the case immediately to Robbery-Homicide, which specializes in high-profile, complex investigations, was viewed by many LAPD observers as odd, given the intense media scrutiny the attack has generated and hundreds of tips police have had to sort through.

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.