Recently I represented a young woman charged with grand theft who was innocent. She was renting a house in Malibu, California, when problems developed with the mortgage holder, causing her to be concerned about her rent payments. Eventually she moved, and the owner of the property went to the police and claimed that she had stolen various items from the house. The owner never followed the requirements of California law regarding a walk-through of the property when a tenant leaves. The police, of course, in their usual disregard of proper protocol, arrested the client and she was charged by the District Attorney with stealing thousands of dollars of property from the house. The owner even testified at preliminary hearing as to numerous items that were removed.
I was hired at the trial level. Amazingly, the property owner listed her house for sale, and an investigator went to an open house and took pictures of various items of furniture which the owner had previously claimed were stolen! The D.A. handling the case was shown the photos. Incredibly, at first he did not want to dismiss the case, even though it was obvious that his "victim" was a liar. He said the client could still have possessed other items claimed to be stolen. It took several more court appearances to convince the prosecutor that he had no chance to win his case, and finally he dismissed all charges. What is fascinating about this case is how reluctant the prosecutor was to dismiss even though it was clear that his "victim" was a liar. In Los Angeles at least prosecutors are brainwashed not to dismiss cases even against innocent defendants!
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