Crime & Safety

Solano County Man Sues CoCo County DA

A top CoCo County prosecutor and Solano County resident sues CoCo DA for retaliation.

By Bay City News Service

A longtime Contra Costa County prosecutor this week sued District
Attorney Mark Peterson and two of his top administrators in federal court,
alleging that they retaliated against him for supporting Peterson's political
rival in a 2010 election.
          Former Senior Deputy District Attorney David Brown, who ran the
district attorney's Richmond office for nearly a decade, is suing the county,
the district attorney's office, Peterson and two senior deputy district
attorneys, Doug MacMaster and Karen Zelis-Holder, for $6 million.
          A lawsuit filed Wednesday by the 54-year-old Solano County
resident alleges that under Peterson's leadership, he faced an "ongoing
pattern of harassment and retaliation" which he believes was based on his
support of Dan O'Malley, who ran against Peterson for the district attorney
seat in 2010.
          Peterson has not responded to several requests for comment on the
lawsuit, and MacMaster declined to comment on any pending litigation.
          The complaint alleges Brown was demoted and transferred to
positions usually reserved for less experienced attorneys based on the fact
that he did not back Peterson.
          In January 2011, Peterson took office and demoted Brown, along
with five other supervising attorneys.
          Brown said in a phone interview that he had expected the demotion,
but did not anticipate the "intentionally humiliating" way it was carried
out, in front of Zelis-Holder, who was then a subordinate whom he said held a
grudge against him "for unknown reasons."
          Following his demotion, Brown was assigned to the office's Mental
Health Litigation Department. There, he said he was accused of
insubordination for failing to attend meetings that he had, in fact,
attended.
          Next, he said, "They started making false claims about my ability
to try cases and sent me to the juvenile unit, which is generally staffed by
inexperienced attorneys."
          He also alleges that MacMaster discriminated against him with a
racially tinged remark the attorney allegedly made in 2002 in front of a
colleague.
          In that instance, the veteran prosecutor alleges, MacMaster
approached Brown while he was speaking to another co-worker and said, "Brown
will be asking, 'Where da white women be at?'"
          Brown said that in July 2011, MacMaster allegedly sent an email to
someone outside of the office in which he questioned the veteran attorney's
ability to grasp certain legal practices.
          "When someone starts denigrating your mental abilities, that's
consistent with racism," he said.
          Brown said he was transferred to the juvenile division last July
only after he lodged a complaint against MacMaster for writing the email.
          He said he believes the transfer may also have been retaliation
for his negative assessment of the Mental Health Litigation department, which
he reported had been left in disarray by the former division head, a close
friend of MacMaster's.
          Brown said he does not know if he will return to the office where
he spent the last 26 years, and added that the decision to sue his longtime
employer was difficult.
          "I've come to love the office, and I've always loved my job, and
for things like this to happen ... it destroys your life," he said.
          Brown's suit comes on the heels of another veteran prosecutor's
lawsuit against the district attorney's office. Last month, longtime Contra
Costa sex crimes prosecutor Michael Gressett sued his employer for allegedly
pursuing a politically motivated rape case against him in 2008.
          The rape case has since been dropped.


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