cannabisnews.com: DA, Challenger Clash During Feisty Debate DA, Challenger Clash During Feisty Debate Posted by FoM on April 20, 2001 at 14:33:22 PT By Gary Klien Source: Marin Independent Journal Marin District Attorney Paula Kamena and challenger Thomas Van Zandt engaged in their first face-to-face duel last night in a turbulent forum marked by harsh accusations, outbursts from the audience and a door-slamming exit by a disgruntled protester.Moderator Greg Brockbank, president of the Marin Democratic Club, repeatedly appealed for order as some audience members lashed out at Kamena, who is facing a recall election on May 22. About 80 people attended the event at Whistlestop in San Rafael. Both rivals were peppered with tough written questions from the audience - which was stacked with supporters on both sides - about Kamena's record and Van Zandt's lack of prosecutorial experience."I have serious concerns about Ms. Kamena," Van Zandt said. "I'm raising four children with my wife in Marin County. I don't want them to grow up in a Kamena-like world.""I have worked in the criminal justice system for 31 years," Kamena said. "I absolutely refuse to have my integrity batted about by people who think this is funny."The recall began as a protest against several family-law judges. That effort died out, but Kamena's name was attached to the recall by medical-marijuana advocates who say her policies violate Proposition 215, which legalized compassionate use in 1996.Van Zandt, whose sister was indicted on suspicion of abducting her own child after an unfavorable family-court ruling, then filed to challenge Kamena in the election.Last night's forum touched on the medical-marijuana and family-law issues, but equal attention was paid to specific cases like Joyce Kennard, the state Supreme Court justice who was suspected of drunken driving on Highway 101 but never charged."It was political favoritism at its worst," Van Zandt said. "This is another example of political favoritism at the district attorney's office."Kamena said the case was simple - Kennard had a blood-alcohol content of less than .08, the legal limit.In another exchange, Kamena, discussing her initiatives against identity theft, asked the audience whether anyone had ever illegally used their credit cards."Annette Rose!" someone shouted.The reference to the county supervisor, who is also facing a possible recall over alleged county credit-card abuses, was a prominent issue during the 105-minute forum. A notice of intention to seek a recall was filed by Rose's critics on Tuesday.Van Zandt said the alleged credit-card abuses by Rose - and Kamena's decision not to prosecute her - are evidence that Kamena is "twisting the law" to protect her political allies and prosecute her enemies.A county audit last year showed that Rose had accumulated $32,000 in charges on her county credit cards over five years, including personal charges such as $3,500 for cabinets from Home Depot. The personal charges were made despite repeated warnings by the county Auditor-Controller Richard Arrow."You know you cannot use public money for personal use," Van Zandt told Kamena. "You know it's wrong, I know it's wrong, the Board of Supervisors knows it's wrong and - most importantly - Paula Kamena knows it's wrong."Kamena defended herself by saying the repeated warnings by the county established an accounting practice that essentially permitted the spending, making the case unwinnable."You need unauthorized expenditures," she said. "No jury would have convicted for credit-card abuse."Rose repaid the money, apologized and was re-elected by a wide margin in March 2000.Kamena tried to emphasize Van Zandt's inexperience - he is a patent attorney who joined the bar in 1998 - and lashed out at him for helping to stage a recall election that is expected to cost the county $500,000."I wish they'd shut up about the $500,000," Van Zandt told the audience. "Twenty thousand people signed those (recall) petitions. If we have to spend $500,000 to protect the integrity of our quarter-billion-dollar (county) budget, it's money well spent."At one point Van Zandt conceded that he has never tried a criminal case. He also said he has no policy on handling medical marijuana cases."It's not something I walk around working on," he said. "I'll have a position on medical marijuana as soon as I'm district attorney. I'll have it the first week." Source: Marin Independent Journal (CA)Author: Gary KlienPublished: April 19, 2001Copyright: 2001 Marin Independent JournalContact: opinion marinij.comWebsite: http://www.marinij.com/Related Articles:Marin County Prosecutor Facing Recall http://cannabisnews.com/news/thread9278.shtmlDA's Recall Effort Moves Forwardhttp://cannabisnews.com/news/thread9269.shtml Home Comment Email Register Recent Comments Help Comment #1 posted by lookinside on April 20, 2001 at 21:55:59 PT: sanity? i think it would be refreshing and enlightening to have anattorney as DA who isn't part of the "power elite"...wemight see a more honest approach...a little more humanity... the game professional prosecutors play loses sight of thepeople it injures...how many people plead guilty to crimesthey didn't commit brcause the threat of much longersentences is there if they go to trial...that's blackmail ofthe most heinous sort... 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