State Won’t Pursue Mitchelson Rape Case

The California attorney general’s office announced Thursday that it will not prosecute Los Angeles palimony lawyer Marvin Mitchelson for the alleged rapes of two women clients.

Told of the attorney general’s decision in a phone call from a reporter, Mitchelson, who is in Geneva, Switzerland, said: “I am pleased that that decision has been made. I know that these things (the alleged rapes) have never happened, and I’ve spent my life defending women, not attacking them. . . .

“I’ve been a lawyer for 30 years, maybe been involved in 3,500 cases. . . . There are sometimes people who are disgruntled . . . and sometimes fantasize . . . and want to accuse you of something to get some place or make some point.

“I am very relieved. I am pleased that the system works and that it was thoroughly investigated.”

State prosecutors entered the case in response to complaints from one of the alleged victims and her lawyer that the Los Angeles County district attorney’s office had accorded Mitchelson preferential treatment and had erred in deciding not to prosecute him.

Prosecutors from the district attorney’s office had reviewed the case for an extraordinary seven months before announcing last January that there was “insufficient evidence to establish that any crime was committed.”

In a brief unsigned statement, the attorney general’s office said Thursday that its criminal division had conducted its own investigation and determined that the district attorney’s office “did not abuse its discretion when it declined to file criminal charges.”

“We’re not in a position to second-guess D.A.’s decisions unless we can establish that they have abused their discretion,” said Duane Peterson, acting press secretary for Atty. Gen. John Van de Kamp. “That is the standard for review in our office.”

Chief Assistant Atty. Gen. Steve White explained that it is proper discretion for a district attorney to decline to file charges if he reasonably believes that filing them would not likely result in a conviction.