Legal Question in Criminal Law in California
Deputy DA was ''The Prosecution'' at two seperate cases I had, back to back !
Can a Deputy DA represent the DA's Office against a DEFENDANT in a Criminal Matter Hearing for a criminal case, and then four months later, in a new criminal case, the DDA was again, the Prosecuting Attorney on the same Defendant, but in a new and seperate case. Is this not a conflict of interest, whereas THE DEFENDANT has a right to a fair trial but since the DDA already ''had previous court dealings'' with THE DEFENDANT, as recent as four months prior, in a seperate criminal case, The DDA should have notified the court right? Where can I research ''A conflict of Interest'' with regard to Lawyers, and/or Judges, who should ''REMOVE THEMSELVES'' from a criminal case, due to either KNOWING THE DEFENDANT, or who had RECENT courtroom dealings with the DEFENDANT, in a seperate case ??
1 Answer from Attorneys
Re: Deputy DA was ''The Prosecution'' at two seperate cases I had, back to back !
There is no conflict of interest here. Knowing a party and having opposed him in recent cases do not create a conflict for an attorney on the other side.
The DDA represents the same client -- the state -- in each prosecution. His duties to his client are the same in each case, so they don't conflict with one another. He owes you no duties in either case, so again there is no conflict.
There would be conflict if, for example, your former defense attorney got a job as a DDA and then prosecuted you for something related to the work he previously did in your defense. The scenario you describe isn't remotely like this.
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