Former Alameda County District Attorney Nancy O'Malley is adding her name to the growing list of supporters backing a recall to oust current District Attorney Pamela Price.
For the first time since her successor took office, O’Malley is fighting back against repeated claims by Price that O'Malley left the district attorney’s office in ruins. O’Malley said those accusations are false and Price's failed leadership is to blame for the sorry state of the district attorney's office.
"Under Pamela Price's regime, she ignores the rights of victims," O'Malley said Wednesday. "This is one of the most heartbreaking parts of her being the district attorney. She's used this office improperly. She uses it to intimidate. Of course she takes any chance to criticize me erroneously for things that I didn't do."
O'Malley's announcement that she's backing the recall efforts against Price comes just one week after Price blamed O'Malley for a backlog of misdemeanor cases that resulted in hundreds of dismissals – an accusation O’Malley flatly denies.
"We never lost the statute of limitations by not reviewing them," O'Malley said. "When Pamela Price came in, she cut down that division of charging deputies."
O’Malley also claims Price and her administration have reduced or eliminated critical programs addressing human trafficking, victim services and probation programs. Price said that's not true.
"There's no question in my mind that she never really intended to be the full DA," O'Malley said. "She intended to be the person who was there to get people out of jail and to lessen sentences."
Meanwhile, Price held her own news conference announcing allegations that attorneys assigned to review death penalty cases in 2004 excluded Black and Jewish jurors. Price also claims O’Malley, who was not the DA at the time of those cases, was involved in covering it up along with other prior DAs.
"The prosecutorial misconduct by former Alameda County prosecutors in this office knew no bounds," Price said. "One person became a sitting judge and we may be getting close to learning that the district attorney of this office was more actively involved."
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Price presented a copy of a handwritten note from a former DA office employee that allegedly contains information on prosecutorial misconduct in the district attorney's office. Price claims eight former prosecutors were involved in the alleged discrimination.
"This note provides the public some of the missing clues regarding who appeared to be involved during previous administrations in covering up prosecutorial misconduct at the Alameda County District Attorney’s Office,” Price said. "The note from this meeting in 2004 gives insight into why prosecutors' notes containing evidence of discrimination against potential Jewish and Black jurors may not have been subjected to a comprehensive review and were not disclosed to the court in most of the cases until my office was ordered by Honorable Judge Vince Chhabria to review death penalty cases."
Price also alleges O’Malley accepted illegal campaign contributions and participated in other finance corruption, including accepting thousands from the Fremont police union in 2018 while investigating the department.
O’Malley said those union funds were donated to battered women and flatly denies all other allegations.
"Nancy O’Malley represents the last desperate attempt to go back to a time when police officers, police unions controlled this office," Price said.
In a statement, O'Malley responded, saying, "These false or misleading allegations by Pam Price demonstrate my point that Price is unqualified to hold public office. Price is dishonest. She manufacturers cocktails of misinformation that deliberately mix falsehoods with a dash of data with the intent to deceive. Pamela will pay a price for her deceptions on Election Day."
