California Supreme Court rules for prosecutor who advised filmmakers

A Santa Barbara prosecutor who consulted in the making of the movie “Alpha Dog,” about an accused killer facing the death penalty, may stay on the case, the California Supreme Court decided unanimously today.

Ruling against the capital defendant, the state high court said a prosecutor may be removed from a case only if it is determined that his or her actions created a conflict of interest that made it unlikely for the defendant to receive a fair trial.

The court nevertheless called the decision by Santa Barbara Deputy Dist. Atty. Ronald Zonen to turn over case files to “Alpha Dog” director Nick Cassavetes “highly inappropriate and disturbing.” The court said Zonen had not screened the files for confidential information.

Just because an appeals court erred in removing Zonen from the prosecution of Jesse James Hollywood, “this is not to say that Zonen can or should escape censure,” Justice Kathryn M. Werdegar wrote.

The court also ruled in favor of two other prosecutors who had been removed from trials because of perceived conflicts of interest.

“Only an actual likelihood of unfair treatment, not a subjective perception of impropriety, can warrant a court taking the significant step of recusing an individual prosecutor or prosecutor’s office,” Werdegar wrote.

In the case of another Santa Barbara prosecutor, who wrote a novel that was similar to a case she was to try, the court said it did “not condone actions that place a prosecutor’s literary career ahead of or at odds with her fealty to the fair and evenhanded pursuit of justice.”

Even though writers are encouraged to write what they know, “the prosecutor who follows that advice may compromise her ability to carry out duties to represent the people and to seek justice impartially, the court warned.

 maura.dolan@latimes.com