There is a stark difference between the two candidates for county’s top prosecutor; only one will bring change.
The two candidates for Contra Costa district attorney represent starkly different perspectives on the role and future of law enforcement.
Becton’s challenger, Deputy District Attorney Mary Knox, a 37-year prosecutor in the office, objects to the drug-diversion reforms. And, even after a jury convicted Hall and a judge sentenced him to aThe last thing Contra Costa needs is an apologist for bad cops as the top prosecutor.County supervisors appointed Becton to bring change to an office that had been rife with drama and scandal.
But data from the office shows that the attrition as prosecutors reach retirement age and the number of promotions of other attorneys as replacements seem normal. Currently, the office has about the same number of advanced-level prosecutors as it did when Becton took charge in 2017. It was a stunning rebuke of the jury verdict and our judicial process, coming from Contra Costa’s top cop. And, in our interview with Knox, she sided with the sheriff, who is a political ally. It was a disappointing position for someone who wants to be the top prosecutor.until after the second Hall shooting before finally charging him in the first. It should have never taken that long.
But then she delved into detail about the case, saying that she would not have filed charges because Hall acted within department policy and that he “was justified in using deadly force” because he “was under no duty to move out of the way of the moving car that was accelerating toward him.”from the scene presents a completely different scenario, which the jury in the criminal trial apparently recognized. The car was not accelerating toward Hall.