Eric H. Schweitzer & Jacqueline Goodman Issue the Following Statement

FULLERTON, Calif. - March 15, 2016 - PRLog -- California Attorneys for Criminal Justice (CACJ) believes that the public courthouse is a sacred place where prosecutors and defense attorneys should be free to practice their respective professions with honor and zeal in the pursuit of justice. In the sanctity of the courthouse, no person should ever be intimidated or silenced by the threat of physical aggression, particularly by one who represents the government.

We call for no rush to judgment. This is why we remain troubled by the statements from the president of the OC Sheriff's union immediately following the incident and thereafter. It should be of concern to every fair-minded citizen that the president of the union that represents the involved DA investigator and the sheriffs responsible for this investigation incredibly suggests that Attorney Crawford was happy to have been beaten and disfigured as "a lawyer in search of a pay day." Such comments are disgraceful, and reflect poorly on the very honorable men and women of the sheriff's department and the district attorney's office, and all those who work toward justice.

Given that Attorney Crawford recently exposed the very DA's office where Dillon Alley served as an investigator for failing to disclose important facts in a murder case; and given that the injuries to Mr. Crawford were severe and not self-inflicted; and because this occurred in the courthouse by the District Attorney's own investigator who appears to have had no colorable authority to do so; we are likewise concerned over the failure of the DA himself to denounce such violence, if any, by his staff, especially in this context.

It is precisely this type of "circling the wagons," lack of transparency, and lack of clear leadership on behalf of the citizens of Orange County that those who value justice rightly criticize.

CACJ, on the frontlines in the battle for equal justice, will not stand by in silence.

CACJ will be issuing a public records request in connection with the evidence in this case, including any video.

We renew our call to have nothing less than a thorough, independent investigation. And we renew our call to the District Attorney to take measures to ensure both a climate of respect for all those who work toward justice, and a commitment to ensuring it.

ERIC H. SCHWEITZER

JACQUELINE GOODMAN

Executive Committee, CACJ

For more information, contact us at: www.californiadefenselawyer.net