Prosecutor Who Threw Evidence Away Resigns

A Los Angeles County deputy district attorney resigned Thursday rather than face dismissal for destroying a piece of evidence--a photo--she felt might have caused jurors to feel sympathy for a murder defendant.

Chris Gosney, 39, was allowed to resign to avoid being fired, said several prosecutors who spoke on condition of anonymity. Sandi Gibbons, a spokeswoman for Dist. Atty. Ira Reiner, declined to comment on the circumstances surrounding Gosney’s resignation.

The resignation stemmed from Gosney’s handling of the prosecution of Edward Vasquez, 23, who was acquitted July 31 in the shooting death of a security guard. In a statement made in court before the trial, Gosney admitted throwing away a photograph of a child she had found in a jacket Vasquez said he was wearing the day of the shooting.

Gosney said she discarded the picture, inscribed “to my cousin Eddie,” because “I did not want the jury to be swayed by sentiment because of some little boy that obviously loved his cousin.”