Conviction rate at center of district attorney's race

<p>The challenger in the race for Sonoma County District Attorney said campaign advertisements from incumbent Stephan Passalacqua touting an 88 percent conviction rate in 2009 paint an unreal picture of his office's courtroom performance over the past seven years.</p><p>Challenger Jill Ravitch said statistics from the state Department of Justice show he never scored better than 74 percent from 2003 to 2008 and had the second-lowest conviction rate in the state in 2007 — just 62 percent, or 20 points below the state average. </p><p>Ravitch questioned where figures in Passalacqua's radio spots came from and accused the two-term prosecutor of breaking campaign promises to be tougher on criminals.</p><p>“I don't know if that's a promise that's been kept,” said Ravitch, a former Passalacqua supporter and co-worker who is now a prosecutor in Mendocino County. “There's a terrible pattern here. You're looking at someone who is consistently receiving a grade of D- or F. We deserve better.”</p><p>Passalacqua said the 88 percent rate was calculated using internal records and reflected only felony cases that went to trial. Those represent a tiny portion of the cases used in the state's computations.</p><p>Overall, he said his felony conviction rate for all arrests for 2009 was about 79 percent. The most recent state analysis is for 2007.</p><p>He called Department of Justice numbers inaccurate and requested a formal review into reporting for 2006 and 2007, when he put his overall felony conviction rate at 74.5 percent and 73 percent, respectively. The department, which cautioned its numbers can be unreliable at the county level, reported Sonoma County scored a 66 percent in 2006 and 62.2 percent the following year. Department of Justice officials said their computations are based on statistics provided by each county, not their own data gathering.</p><p>“We take issue with the DOJ numbers. They are not consistent with our internal records or those of the Judicial Council,” Passalacqua said Friday. “We're getting outstanding results in courtroom and at the same time, we're supportive of diversion and treatment programs.”</p><p>The dispute over conviction rates is the latest salvo between the two camps in a race that will be decided by voters June 8, provided no other candidates enter the field. If no candidate gets a majority of votes cast, the top two would face off in November.</p><p>Passalacqua and Ravitch have traded jabs over key law enforcement endorsements, which they mostly split, and fund-raising, where Ravitch has a slight lead. </p><p>Last month, Passalacqua accused Ravitch of taking contributions from criminal defense attorneys who had gotten “sweetheart deals” from her. He wouldn't provide examples or otherwise elaborate on the accusation. Ravitch rejected the charge and defense attorneys pounced on Passalacqua for what they said was a baseless claim.</p><p>After Passalacqua aired spots on two radio stations earlier this month touting his prosecutorial success, Ravitch trotted out statistics from the Department of Justice showing Sonoma County's conviction rate has dropped markedly since 2002, the year before Passalacqua took office. </p><p>It bottomed out at the start of his second term in 2007, when the office got 3,376 convictions out of 5,430 felony complaints, ranking it 57th in the state ahead of only Imperial County in Southern California. More than 1,800 felony cases were dismissed, 180 were diverted for alternative sentencing and nine ended in acquittals.</p><p>Passalacqua said any decline in Department of Justice figures was likely influenced by new laws allowing substance abuse treatment and other programs rather than prison. He said Sonoma County residents support so-called diversion programs, which reduce recidivism but can make the conviction rate appear lower.</p><p>His 88 percent conviction rate for 2009 was based on 64 felony cases that went to trial, he said. Fifty-six ended in convictions and eight resulted in acquittals. He denied the number was misleading because of its narrow focus. </p><p>“When we feel cases should go to trial, we're prepared,” Passalacqua said.</p><p>But Ravitch called Passalacqua's performance weak and questioned the validity of his statistics. She said new laws are no excuse because they apply statewide.</p><p>“What we're looking at here is a consistently low conviction rate,” Ravitch said. “People can always make excuses for poor behavior.”</p><p>Passalacqua, 47, was first elected in 2002 after he took on his then-boss, Michael Mullins. He supervises an office of about 125 attorneys, investigators and other employees with a $20 million annual budget.</p><p>Ravitch, 51, was a Sonoma County prosecutor at the time Passalacqua was elected but quit a year later, citing disagreements over case handling. She ran against Passalacqua in 2006, losing by 1,500 votes. </p><p>In 2008 Ravitch, a Sebastopol resident, joined the Mendocino County District Attorney's office, where she is third-in-command, supervises 15 attorneys and carries her own caseload.</p>