Stanford felony vandalism defendant seeks to recuse Santa Clara DA ahead of retrial

"Deputy Public Defender Avi Singh, who represents defendant German Gonzalez, filed the motion on Feb. 25, citing Rosen's fundraising campaign highlighting the case and the prosecution's conduct during the first trial. The request follows a mistrial declared earlier this month after jurors split 8-4 in favor of guilt on the conspiracy charge and 9-3 on the felony vandalism count, short of the unanimous verdict required for conviction."

"Singh cited that swift declaration as evidence of bias, quoting Rosen as saying the case involved a group of people who destroyed someone else's property and caused hundreds of thousands of dollars in damage. At the center of the recusal motion is Rosen's alleged use of the high-profile case in campaign fundraising. Singh argues that Rosen highlighted the prosecution of the Stanford 5 on his campaign website directly alongside Donate to Jeff' buttons."

"When a motion seeks to recuse a district attorney, the attorney general's office represents the prosecution because the district attorney's office is a party to the case. While the office has occasionally stepped aside after determining it had a conflict of interest, court-ordered removals are rare."

Five pro-Palestinian activists face felony vandalism charges from a 2024 Stanford University protest. A mistrial was declared when jurors could not reach unanimous verdicts on conspiracy and vandalism charges. The defense argues District Attorney Jeff Rosen has a conflict of interest because he highlighted the prosecution in campaign fundraising materials and announced his intent to retry the case within 30 minutes of the mistrial. The defense contends Rosen used the high-profile case on his campaign website alongside donation buttons and on pages titled 'DA Rosen Fighting Anti-Semitism.' A judge will hear the recusal motion on March 18, with retrial scheduled for March 23. Court-ordered removals of district attorneys are rare, though the attorney general's office represents prosecution when such motions are filed.

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