by Mitchell Crooks
Wednesday, Feb. 04, 2004 at 3:09 PM
Denise For District Attorney
P.O. Box 433 Torrance CA 90508-0433 (818) 769.2035 Fax: (310) 618.1950
E-mail: 76170.1423@compuserve.com
For Immediate Release: January 30, 2004
For Information: Denise Moehlman (310) 562.3654 Jan Tucker (310) 618.9596
DISTRICT ATTORNEY CANDIDATE SAYS
COOLEY BOTCHED POLICE MISCONDUCT CASE
Describing the 6-6 hung jury vote that resulted in a second
mistrial over charges of police brutality leveled against former Inglewood
Police Officer Jeremy Morse as "the latest in a series of missteps which
demonstrate that Cooley cannot hold a major case together," 15 year veteran
prosecutor Denise Moehlman said that "the mishandling of this case from the
outset underscores why Steve Cooley needs to be replaced as District
Attorney." Moehlman, a deputy district attorney at the Airport courthouse
where Morse has been prosecuted, is running in the March 2, 2004 primary
election to replace Cooley.
"Whether you are a prosecutor or a defense attorney it is
elementary that you thoroughly interview expert witnesses before putting
them on the witness stand," said Moehlman. "When the District Attorney's
office put an expert witness on the stand in the first trial without
knowing that he would testify that in his own opinion, the defendant hadn't
committed a crime, is just short of unbelievable. It guaranteed that no
matter what happened in any subsequent prosecution, the defense had been
handed a gratuitous advantage."
Moehlman has pledged throughout her campaign to make prosecution of
police misconduct a priority of her administration. She has also attacked
Cooley's office for failing to prosecute numerous LAPD "Rampart corruption
cases" within the statute of limitations, letting many bad officers remain
unpunished.
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