OAKLAND — The criminal case against one of Alameda County District Attorney Pamela Price’s biggest critics is over.
The California Attorney General’s Office moved to dismiss the case against Amilcar “Butch” Ford during a hearing Wednesday morning. The request — which was promptly granted by an Alameda County Superior Court judge — caps a year-long saga that sparked concerns over whether Price had targeted one of her most vocal political rivals by charging him with a crime rarely pursued by prosecutors anywhere in the state.
After the hearing, Ford wiped a tear from his eye and hugged multiple prosecutors who, like him, left the Alameda County District Attorney’s Office last year for jobs across the Bay Bridge with San Francisco District Attorney Brooke Jenkins.
Speaking to reporters afterward, he called the prosecution “completely frivolous” and an unparalleled “abuse of power.” In the process, he urged the county’s residents to recall Price from office during the Nov. 5 election.
“The reality is that this community is suffering, this office is suffering, victims are suffering in this community and they will continue to suffer until Pamela Price is recalled,” Ford said. “That’s the bottom line.”
Added his attorney, Ernie Castillo: “Today, justice prevailed.”
The ordeal began in July 2023, when Price’s office charged Ford with the rarely-cited misdemeanor of defending after public prosecution as the prosecutor. The charge came just months after Ford — a veteran East Bay prosecutor who vocally criticized Price’s approach to reshaping the East Bay’s justice system — left her office after having been placed on administrative leave.
If convicted, Ford could have been disbarred.
Price claimed that Ford filed a declaration — while still employed by her office — that supported a police union attorney’s bid to disqualify her from the case against former San Leandro police Officer Jason Fletcher, who faces a manslaughter charge for fatally shooting Stephen Taylor in 2020.
In the sworn declaration, Ford described multiple conversations he had with Kwixuan Maloof, then the head of Price’s Public Accountability Unit, during the first few weeks of 2023. Often, those conversations revolved around the topic of which prosecutor would try Fletcher’s case. In one instance, Ford recalled Maloof saying that, “I came here to charge cops. They better be ready. They better Google me,” according to the court declaration.
In January, an Alameda County judge removed Price’s office from Ford’s case amid concerns that Price had a “significant conflict of interest.” Judge James Cramer noted one moment in particular, when Price appeared to revel in watching Ford having his picture and fingerprints taken at the Santa Rita Jail as part of the county’s standard booking process.
“I’m not saying she has expressed an opinion that a member of the public cannot express — she has every right to do so,” Cramer said at the time. “The problem here for me is that the elected district attorney has made repeated comments about the defendant in this case, Mr. Ford.”
An appeal by Price’s office was denied last month, setting the stage for the California Attorney General’s Office to take over the prosecution.
On Wednesday, Deputy Attorney General Caitlin Duprey told Alameda County Superior Court Judge Pelayo Llamas Jr. that the dismissal stemmed from a lack of evidence, adding that it was “in the interest of justice.” Duprey said her office reached that conclusion after embarking on its own investigation and reviewing all the evidence in the case.
In a statement issued Wednesday, Price said the state’s business and profession’s code that Ford had been charged under “sets a high standard for prosecutors.”
“We will continue to expect our prosecutors to comply with the law and to pursue justice for the family of Steven Taylor,” her statement added.
Ford has repeatedly sparred with Price recently, having even appeared at a rally in April 2023 on the steps of the René C. Davidson Courthouse in downtown Oakland while calling for her to be recalled from office. He was the only prosecutor still employed at her office to do so, emphasizing that Price had been too lenient on crime during the opening months of her administration, particularly in some of the county’s most violent cases.
The state Attorney General’s Office may also be asked to oversee a second case this year. In March, another Alameda County judge removed Price’s office from Fletcher’s case, citing concerns that her office was too biased to handle the case. That decision remains under appeal.
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