Legal Question in Criminal Law in California
Does a DA have a boss that he or she has to ask what he or she does next? Or what he or she should do like dismiss the charges, make a plea bargain or take this case to trial?
2 Answers from Attorneys
The District Attorney would be the boss. Chances are an assistant is prosecuting your case, and he/she would report to the DA. In almost all cases the assistant has the authority to make any and all decisions regarding the case. The DA couldn't possibly be involved each and every case. A defendant does not have right to have a DA personally involved in the case.
There is one elected District Attorney. The rest of the attorneys in the office are Deputy DAs and work for the one DA. The "regular" DAs have some authority over the cases assigned to them, but each office and unit may have its own policies on what they can do regarding dismissal of cases, charges, plea deals, etc. The DAs that appear in court will have supervisors that they can approach about deals, etc.
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