Why is Sacramento’s DA trying to stop criminal cases from going before one judge?

Sacramento District Attorney Thien Ho’s office has decided to freeze out a Superior Court judge from hearing any criminal cases coming from its prosecutors, employing a rule that allows them to reject a judge for being prejudiced against their interests.

Ho’s office confirmed to The Sacramento Bee that prosecutors plan to use a section of the California Code of Civil Procedure to “blanket paper” Judge Stephen Acquisto, a 10-year veteran of the bench.

The office would not say what prompted the move.

“Yes, we are exercising our authority pursuant to CCP 170.6 as it relates to Judge Stephen Acquisto,” Chief Deputy District Attorney Scott Triplett said in an emailed statement. “At this time, we will not provide further information on this matter.”

Triplett’s statement did not indicate whether the decision to “paper” Acquisto was permanent or would lapse after some time.

The D.A.’s Office notified Sacramento Superior Court Presiding Judge Michael Bowman of the move July 31, according to a court email forwarded to The Bee.

Acquisto did not respond to a request for comment, with a court spokeswoman writing in an email that “the judge is unable to provide any comment regarding pending or future cases that may come before the court.”

Bowman also declined a request for comment through the spokeswoman.

Both Acquisto and Bowman were appointed to the bench in December 2013 by then-Gov. Jerry Brown.

The move has sparked gossip among capital attorneys wondering what may have prompted the decision, and speculation that it may stem in part from a case handled under California’s revised felony-murder law that allows for defendants who received life sentences as accomplices in murder cases to seek new sentences.

Two sources, who spoke anonymously to The Bee because of the sensitivity of the matter, said the re-sentencing in a 2008 second-degree murder case may have sparked the D.A.’s move.

In that case, the defendant was serving a 15-years-to-life sentence and successfully sought re-sentencing that allowed for his release from prison despite opposition from the D.A.’s office.

The sources also said Acquisto had been the subject of an earlier move by Ho’s office to keep cases from being assigned to Acquisto temporarily.

Lawyers familiar with the judge defended his impartiality as word of the D.A.’s plan emerged.

“Public defender attorneys have appeared before Judge Acquisto on a wide variety of cases over the years and have found him to be a fair and impartial judge,” the Sacramento County Public Defender’s Office said in a statement to The Bee. “While we do not always agree with his rulings, he endeavors to find a just resolution in every case before him.”

Veteran Sacramento defense attorney Mark Reichel said Acquisto has a reputation “as a really bright judge, and there’s no one who would say otherwise.”

“He reads and applies the law like we would require,” Reichel said. “Most people are saying it’s because he is being a judge and fairly applying the law to the facts, which at times will require him to rule against the prosecution.

“Obviously, he rules on hundreds of cases throughout the year. It appears on a few occasions where he rules against the prosecution they are of the opinion that his rulings should be 100 percent of the time in their favor.”