P v. PETRISCA
Filed 3/30/06
CERTIFIED FOR PUBLICATION
IN THE COURT OF APPEAL OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA
SECOND APPELLATE DISTRICT
DIVISION EIGHT
| THE PEOPLE, Plaintiff and Appellant, v. GEORGE DANIEL PETRISCA, Defendant and Respondent. | B188294 (Los Angeles County Super. Ct. No. LA047887) |
APPEAL from an order of the Superior Court of Los Angeles County. Kathryne A. Stoltz, Judge. Reversed.
Bill Lockyer, Attorney General, Robert R. Anderson, Chief Assistant Attorney General, Pamela C. Hamanaka, Senior Assistant Attorney General, Robert M. Snider, Lance E. Winters and Laura J. Hartquist, Deputy Attorneys General, for Plaintiff and Appellant.
Steve Cooley, District Attorney of Los Angeles County, William Woods and Tracey Lopez, Deputy District Attorneys, for Plaintiff and Appellant.
Ronald B. Talkov for Defendant and Respondent.
* * * * * * * * * *
INTRODUCTION
George Daniel Petrisca, who stands charged with murder and other felonies in connection with driving his vehicle at excessive speeds on the wrong side of the road, successfully moved to recuse the entire office of the District Attorney of Los Angeles County (DA) from prosecuting the case again him. He based his motion on the fact that one of the deceased victim's sons, Jeffrey Semow, was a deputy district attorney (DDA) of Los Angeles. Petrisca argued this relationship created a conflict of interest for the DA and made it unlikely he would receive a fair trial. The trial court ordered the recusal pursuant to Penal Code section 1424 after finding a prosecutor in the DA's office would â€
