Prosecutor alleges he repeatedly urged superiors to drop murder charges against innocent man
In a recent case, a resigned public prosecutor claimed whistleblower retaliation and disability discrimination on the part of the district attorney’s office after he expressed his worries about an innocent man being prosecuted for murder.
In Ross v. The Superior Court of Riverside County/County of Riverside, the petitioner, who was a prosecutor in the homicide unit of Riverside County District Attorney’s office, was assigned to a murder case filed against Roger Parker in 2011. The petitioner reviewed the case file and found insufficient evidence to prosecute Parker for murder.
In 2013, the petitioner found evidence exonerating Parker, including DNA evidence. An investigator with the DA’s office obtained a witness interview that identified Parker’s roommate as the murderer and a jailhouse recording where the roommate confessed to the crime. The petitioner claimed that he repeatedly tried asking his superiors to drop Parker’s charges, but these attempts failed.
Also in 2013, the petitioner started experiencing severe neurological symptoms, which were attributed to a concussion syndrome. He asked his supervisors to stop assigning him to more murder cases until the completion of his medical evaluations, but this request was refused.
The DA’s office transferred the petitioner to the filing unit. Later, the office put him on administrative leave and prohibited him from returning to work...
Prime Minister Viktor Orbán has deployed the Hungarian military to secure a major natural gas pipeline on the Serbian border following reports of a thwarted sabotage attempt, an incident the oppos...