Outspoken U.S. Attorney in San Diego Quits

Peter K. Nunez, the sometimes outspoken U.S. attorney for the Southern District of California, announced Thursday that he plans to resign to become a partner in a law firm.

Nunez, 45, has been the top federal prosecutor in San Diego since his appointment as interim U.S. attorney for the Southern District in April, 1983.

“It’s time to move on. It has absolutely no other implications,” Nunez said Thursday. “I’ve been in this office for 16 years, and it’s time for some new challenges.”

In recent weeks, Nunez has been critical of the federal government’s “zero tolerance” drug crackdown. But he said Thursday that his superiors in Washington have not objected to his making public statements.

Nunez said he will take a position here as a partner in the civil litigation section of Brobeck, Phleger & Harrison, a large San Francisco law firm.

In a memorandum distributed to his staff Thursday, Nunez said he will stay on as U.S. attorney until Sept. 1, at the latest, to give Atty. Gen. Edwin Meese III time to choose a successor.

Justice Department officials in Washington said late Thursday that they were taken by surprise by Nunez’s resignation and had no idea what was behind it. They noted that Meese recently praised Nunez and that there is no reason to believe his resignation was for any reason other than personal.

Colleagues said Thursday that Nunez is making the move now because of the possibility that he would lose his post when a new administration takes over in Washington next January.

“It’s just a good opportunity for a guy who basically sees the writing on the wall,” said Michael L. Lipman, a former assistant U.S. attorney. “In six months, he could be out on the street.”

“He just decided to leave,” Assistant U.S. Atty. Philip Halpern said. “It’s a very good opportunity with a very prestigious firm.”

Vocal Critic

In recent years, Nunez has stood out among U.S. attorneys as an unusually vocal critic of some Justice Department policies. In August, 1986, he warned in an interview with The Times that the country’s war on drugs was being crippled by a lack of funds. He said he had lost five lawyers--10% of his legal staff--to attrition and he could not replace them because of limitations imposed by the Gramm-Rudman-Hollings budget-cutting legislation.

At the same time, Meese and Vice President George Bush were announcing a crackdown on illegal drugs, Nunez pointed out at the time.

“Basically, you have an increased enforcement effort and a reduced prosecutorial effort going on at the same time,” Nunez said. “You can’t do more with less.”

Last January, Nunez took the unusual step of criticizing Los Angeles U.S. Atty. Robert C. Bonner for announcing that nine men had been indicted in the torture-slaying of U.S. drug agent Enrique Camarena, a case Nunez’s office had intensively worked on. The announcement, made in Los Angeles, took Nunez by surprise.

Nunez also has been critical in recent weeks of the “zero tolerance” drug crackdowns begun nationwide by the U.S. Customs Service and the Coast Guard. He said his office did not have sufficient resources to handle an influx of new cases.