An attorney for a former Bay Area police officer is expected to make a motion Friday morning to disqualify the Alameda County District Attorney's Office from the criminal case against the officer.
Former San Leandro Police Officer Jason Fletcher is accused of voluntary manslaughter in the shooting death of Steven Taylor at a San Leandro Walmart in 2020. Taylor was allegedly trying to steal merchandise from the store.
Attorney Michael Rains, who regularly represents police officers in legal cases, will make the motion before Judge Thomas Reardon following District Attorney Pamela Price's "voluminous and venomous public statements" about police officers in general and Fletcher, according to court documents.
"As such, she cannot offer him the even-handed treatment every criminal defendant deserves," court documents said.
Price's office did not respond Thursday to a request for comment on the expected motion. Price has been subject to public scrutiny over her allegedly lenient stance on crime.
If Reardon does disqualify the Alameda County District Attorney's Office, Rains wants the state Attorney General's Office to prosecute the case.
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