Carmen Trutanich Crowns Himself 'Chief Prosecutor,' Draws Rebuke From D.A. Steve Cooley

Carmen Trutanich Crowns Himself "Chief Prosecutor," Draws Rebuke From D.A. Steve Cooley

By Gene Maddaus Fri., Mar. 9 2012 at 4:50 PM

Los Angeles ~~City Attorney~~ Chief Prosecutor Carmen Trutanich

Carmen Trutanich is the Los Angeles city attorney. But that's not how he wants to be known to voters who cast ballots for L.A. district attorney in June.

On paperwork filed Thursday with county elections officials, Trutanich says he wants to be called "Los Angeles Chief Prosecutor."

That job does not exist. The phony title seems intended to make voters think Trutanich is already the district attorney, so voting for him would be like voting for the incumbent.

"I hope a candidate challenges that," says the actual incumbent, D.A. Steve Cooley, who is backing his top deputy, Jackie Lacey, in the race to succeed him. "I think that's misleading."

Asked to provide some legal justification for the made-up title, the Trutanich campaign pointed to the L.A. City Charter, which gives the city attorney responsibility for misdemeanor cases and code violations.

But the charter does not use the term "chief prosecutor." It describes the city attorney as "the legal adviser to the City." Trutanich's primary responsibility under the charter is defending the city from lawsuits and suing people on the city's behalf.

The campaign also pointed to this memo, authored by Trutanich's chief deputy. The memo also does not use the term "chief prosecutor." It does use the term "city prosecutor," but as a historical reference. That job was abolished and folded into the city attorney's office in 1933.

Bottom line: Trutanich has a title, and it is, unequivocally, the "Los Angeles City Attorney." So why not use that?

Because people don't like attorneys. They like prosecutors. Trutanich is running against a bunch of prosecutors, so he has to elevate himself to "chief prosecutor."

This is not a new phenomenon. When City Attorney Rocky Delgadillo ran for attorney general in 2006, he described himself on the ballot as "Prosecutor / City Attorney." He at least got his actual title in there. Trutanich is stretching the truth several notches beyond that.

We'll wait and see if the county Registrar-Recorder rejects Trutanich's designation, or if one of his opponents decides to sue.

Tags:

Alan Jackson, Carmen Trutanich, Danette Meyers, Jackie Lacey, Steve Cooley

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wolfmansteve

Trutanich should give himself the title of "City Blow Hard" because that's what he really is.

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Warren

It is not surprising that Trutanich gave himself a non-existent and misleading ballot title, just like he gave himself non-existent police endorsements, and non-existent YouTube views. Everything, everything is phony fake and full of it when it comes to Trutanich. There is not a single word that he says that can be taken at face value, and when you do a little fact checking, the truth is always very different. Trutanich represents not only the worst type of politician, but the worst example for prosecutors - a Mike Nifong approach to prosecution and law enforcement - make arrests, grab the headlines, and then when the facts are known, move on. Time to move Trutanich on - back to chasing ambulances.

Ionatrailer

Trutanich is an embarrassment to the city of Los Angeles. He needs to go back to San Pedro and crawl back under his rock.

Chela

What happened to Mario Trujillo? The Deputy DA who had the highest fundraising cash on hand then the other candidates?

Hugo W. Merida

Mario withdrew a couple of days ago for very disturbing health tests..otherwise he was going to be the next DA.

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Juneswan

I am not voting for Trutanich because I happen to believe one of the experienced DA's in the race Grace) has a better temperament and enough experience to be an awesome DA. But with that said, this article is nothing more than another unfair hit job on Trutanich. He is - without question - the Chief Prosecutor for the CITY of Los Angeles. His office prosecutes 70% of all LAPD arrests and his prosecutors prosecute ALL crimes. In California, almost all crimes are called wobblers, meaning they can be misdemeanors OR felonies depending on how its charged. So his prosecutors prosecute everything from rapes (they become sexual batteries in his office) to homicides (they become manslaughters in his office) and everything in between. I don't like him either but lets at least be honest and be fair. Steve Cooley is the COUNTY'S chief prosecutor and Trutanich does that for the CITY. Any objective, empirical research on the part of this writer would have revealed that.

Gene

Thanks for the comment. As a legal matter, the issue is not whether some argument can be made for the proposed ballot designation. Almost all of them have some rationale behind them. The key legal question is whether the proposed ballot title is misleading (Elections Code Section 13107). If it is, it's invalid.

Chris Thom

Carmen Trutanich is a dishonest power hungry evil man. He has ignored the laws passed by voters, he has thrown artists in jail, interfered with patient's medical needs and will lie at all costs to appear as the savior of Los Angeles. Trutanich claimed to have support from trusted groups around LA - all which have declared their support for others and their disgust for his tactics. He is willing to do anything, including prosecuting innocent citizens, to win elections, acquire power and money.