BREAKING: Del Norte D.A. Puts State BAR Suit On Hold Pending Disciplinary Case

Del Norte County District Attorney Jon Alexander has released a statement announcing he is putting his pending suit with with the Calfornia State Bar on hold until a result can be reached regarding the BAR's disciplinary case against him:

"You may have heard that I filed suit in Superior Court against the State Bar of California and others accusing them of violating my civil rights and engaging in discriminatory and purposeful improper prosecution of me in the proceeding which is now pending in the State Bar Court. My attorney and I have dismissed my suit for the following reason:

The State Bar called the attention of my attorneys to a case decided by the Supreme Court of California in 1977, Jacobs v. State Bar of California, in which the Supreme Court ruled that the Superior Court has no jurisdiction to review any aspects of a pending disciplinary case against an attorney. Rather, as long as the charges are pending, such claims must be reserved for eventual review by the Supreme Court itself.

But the dismissal of my suit was “without prejudice,” which means that nothing substantive was decided in the action and that I retain the right to file such suit, but only after my pending disciplinary case has been finally decided one way or another. Rudy Nolen of Sacramento, my lawyer who filed the suit, stands behind the idea that my rights are being gravely violated, and he intends to file a new suit on my behalf when the law allows it.

The stakes in my well-publicized State Bar Court disciplinary hearing are huge. If I am disbarred, I will be unable to fulfill the duties of the office I was elected to by the voters of Del Norte County. The chilling effect of allowing liars and defeated opponents to conspire with the embattled State Bar Office of the Trial Prosecutor means that no prosecutor is safe from vengeful and petty allegations, especially prosecutors who are elected for their commitment to protecting their communities from the scourge of drug trafficking.

In the meantime, I will continue to do the job I was elected to do."
 
--Jon Alexander