A convicted violent sexual predator will get a new chance for controlled release from a state hospital because of prosecutorial misconduct, a state appellate court ruled this week.
Justices on the 4th District Court of Appeal in Santa Ana on Thursday overturned a lower court decision denying the release of convicted pedophile Steven Force. The justices said Force did not receive a fair trial on his request for release because the prosecutor hinted Force might be charged with perjury if he testified in his own defense.
“We still encounter cases where a prosecutor has lost sight of the one paramount goal: fairness. That’s a failure. Acquittals are not failures. Unfair trials are,” said the ruling written by Justice William Bedsworth. “This is such a case. The prosecutor here took his eyes off the prize just long enough to commit misconduct in a way that requires reversal.”
The case was sent back to Orange County Superior Court for a new trial.
The prosecutor was not identified in the ruling, but court documents show it was veteran Deputy District Attorney Peter Finnerty.
District Attorney Todd Spitzer said Friday he is working to keep misconduct out of his office.
“Since taking office in January, I have implemented numerous reforms, including the creation of a Professional Responsibility and Training Unit, to ensure our prosecutors are continually trained and adhere to the highest legal and ethical standards,” Spitzer said.
“I have made it clear that prosecutorial misconduct will not be tolerated. This prosecution occurred under the prior administration and we are reviewing the appellate court’s opinion to determine what action, if any, is required.”
Prosecutorial misconduct at the Orange County District Attorney’s Office has drawn considerable attention since the discovery in 2014 that prosecutors and police were misusing jailhouse informants to extract confessions in violation of federal civil rights laws. Prosecutors also were holding back on sharing exculpatory evidence with defense lawyers.
The Court of Appeal was especially critical of the snitch scandal and this week repeated its admonition for prosecutors to play fair.
‘Provide a fair trial’
“When you get right down to it, that’s the whole job of the trial prosecutor: Provide a fair trial,” said the ruling. “Enforcing the law, protecting the public, supporting crime victims, any phraseology you choose for other aspects of criminal prosecution are subsets of that one job. It’s not about convictions, it’s not about courtroom mastery, it’s not about prison sentences. And it’s certainly not about won/lost records. It’s about fair trials.”
According to the ruling, Force was sexually abused as a child and then began committing sex crimes as a teenager. He was committed to Patton State Hospital in San Bernardino County for two years at age 21 after exposing himself and sexually assaulting a girl on a playground. In 1985, a few years after his release, he again assaulted an 8-year-old girl in an elevator and served three years in state prison.
After his parole, Force got married, but molested his wife’s relatives and was sentenced to 20 years in prison. He served half that time and was transferred indefinitely as a sexually violent predator to Coalinga State Hospital. At the hospital, he exposed himself to a nurse in 2010. He applied for the conditional release program in 2015 and again in 2017.
Under the conditional release program, offenders receive treatment and supervision. During his previous release trial, Force denied some of his sexual offenses, according to the appellate ruling. However, he admitted to those crimes as part of his hospital treatment and planned to do so again during his latest trial.
But, according to the appellate ruling, the prosecutor told Force’s attorney that he could be charged with perjury. That comment was reported to the judge, who was concerned to the point of saying the prosecutor “might be working in a flower shop next week.”
Justices Bedsworth, Richard Aronson and David Thompson ruled the case should be retried and the court should ensure that Force’s constitutional rights are not violated. Medical experts testified in his latest trial that he was a good risk for the supervised release program.
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