DA Jeff Rosen Using Sheriff Joe Arpaio Tactics Against Media

Santa Clara County District Attorney Jeff Rosen is prosecuting a local investigative reporter and publisher to obstruct her ability to report on government misconduct in the county, including allegations of the misuse of public funds and other irregularities in the Victim Services Unit of Rosen's office, according to a whistleblower.

A recent, 196-page court filing in the case asserts that Rosen's prosecution of reporter-publisher Susan Bassi involves bad faith motives, including selective prosecution by charging Bassi for crimes related to an obscure local court rule that have never been charged before, against anyone.

"Susan Bassi is a journalist and has lived in California for many years. She has no criminal history. Ms. Bassi's coverage of local news as a journalist and her participation in local county politics as an activist includes harsh criticism of the Family Court System and of the Santa Clara County District Attorney's Office," Bassi's court appointed attorney Leah Gillis wrote in the court filing, a motion disqualify the DA's office from prosecuting the case on multiple grounds.

The Bassi case is similar to a 2007 prosecution against two publishers in Arizona by Sheriff Joe Arpaio. The criminal case was later dismissed and Phoenix New Times publishers Michael Lacy and Jim Larkin later filed a federal civil rights lawsuit against Arpaio, Maricopa County, and several law enforcement officers. The case resulted in a $3.75 million settlement.

"Both men were handcuffed and taken to jail by Sheriff Arpaio's elite 'Selective Enforcement Unit' - based on a minor misdemeanor charge - for publishing a column in their newspaper earlier in the day, entitled 'Breathtaking Abuse of the Constitution.' The article revealed [Arpaio's] subversion of the grand jury process and the unprecedented attempt to subpoena reporters' notes and the identity and reading habits of any citizen who looked at The New Times," according to the federal lawsuit.

The recent filing in the Bassi case sounds similar:

"Currently, Ms. Bassi faces seven counts, including three just added on October 2, 2019. Ms. Bassi is currently charged with the following: Counts 1 and 4 allege misdemeanor violations of Penal Code section 166(a)(4) [violation of local court rule prohibiting photography/recording]. The specific misdemeanor crime with which Bassi has been charged for taking photographs is criminalized only through the local court order and is not conduct otherwise condemned by state penal statute."

As in the Arizona case against Arpaio, the Bassi case also involves a controversial subpoena:

"[T]he prosecutor assigned to Ms. Bassi's case, Ms. Daniella Rich, filed a subpoena duces tecum...That subpoena seeks many months worth of personal records from Ms. Bassi's email account, internet search results, and GPS tracking data from her cell phone...The District Attorney's Office knows or should know that it is unlawful and improper to try to use a criminal subpoena to obtain computer and cell phone information protected by the Fourth Amendment..." according to the motion to disqualify the DA's office.

In what may foreshadow further proceedings in the Bassi case, the Arizona civil rights case against Arpaio summed up the motives of the controversial sheriff and his deputies:

"[Arpaio and law enforcement officers] threw their journalistic opposition into jail in an attempt to silence [The New Times] criticism of their abusive public practices, criticism that is both fundamental to and fundamentally protected by the Constitution. The arrests and jailings were the crowning event in a long-effort and prosecution by [Arpaio], motivated by improper purposes." Page 24 of the civil rights lawsuit.

Additional information about the Bassi case is provided in whistleblower leaked court documents posted online at DocumentCloud:

• 196-page motion to disqualify the district attorney's office.
• 7-page motion to squash subpoena.
• 23-page federal civil rights lawsuit against Santa Clara County and law enforcement officers.

Bassi is providing rolling coverage of developments in the case on her YouTube channel and LinkedIn feed:

Lacey, et al., vs. Maricopa County, Sheriff Joseph Arpaio, et al., First Amended Complaint: US District Court, District of Arizona (Te