BY BRADEN CARTWRIGHT
Daily Post Staff Writer
A judge today (May 7) kicked off Santa Clara County District Attorney Jeff Rosen from prosecuting five pro-Palestinian protesters, who argued that Rosen’s accusations of antisemitism prevented them from having a fair trial.
The case will be handed off to California Attorney General Rob Bonta’s office, Judge Kelley Paul announced at the Hall of Justice in San Jose.
The Jewish Community Relations Council said the ruling has “validated the defense and their supporters’ ongoing campaign to smear one of our state’s highest-ranking Jewish officials” and urged Bonta to appeal.
“Generations of American Jews in positions of public trust have all too often been treated as suspect or inherently conflicted,” the council said in a statement.
Rosen sent a fundraising email to 620 members of the American Israel Public Affairs Committee in Los Angeles on Dec. 5, according to records subpoenaed by Deputy Public Defender Avi Singh.
“My parents taught my brother and me to love four things: America, the State of Israel, the Jewish people and Judaism,” Rosen wrote.
The email included a donation button and a link to a Los Angles Times article about the case.
“Felony charges for pro-Palestinian Stanford students? Trump will love this,” the headline said.
Rosen has raised $12,000 for his campaign that month. His fundraising efforts have put his office in a corner and created a financial incentive to pursue the case, Singh said during arguments on April 27.
Five protesters — German Gonzalez, Maya Burke, Taylor McCann, Hunter Taylor-Black and Amy Zhai — are facing felony vandalism and conspiracy charges. Six more protesters accepted pretrial plea deals or alternative sentences.
A trial from Jan. 9 to Feb. 13 ended with jurors divided 8-4 for guilt on the conspiracy and 9-3 for guilt on the vandalism.
Following the verdict, Rosen said he would push for a retrial to have the five take responsibility for an estimated $300,000 in damage to the Stanford president’s offices on June 5, 2025.
Singh cited Rosen’s answer to a campaign interview question about “monetizing” the prosecution. Rosen said he hasn’t faced similar challenges in other cases.
“But in this case, because it’s about antisemitism, and it’s because I’m a Jew, it’s the oldest f***ing antisemitic trope. And that’s exactly what the defense attorney is doing in this case,” Rosen reportedly told the San Jose Mercury News on April 20.
The case would get dismissed if Rosen made a comment like this during a trial, and his allegations of antisemitism are “baseless,” Singh said.
“This is absolutely biased and hostile language,” defense attorney Tony Brass added.
Deputy Attorney General Sharon Lockner said Rosen’s office should remain on the case, and his comments have been neutral.
“There’s nothing wrong with campaigning on a case. That’s been done since the dawn of time,” Lockner argued.
Santa Clara County District Attorney’s Office, led by Jeff Rosen, charged and prosecuted former teacher Peter Colombo for felony sexual assault in 2022 before dropping the charges in April 2023 . Basically, Rosen helped destroy a school teachers career and costing tax payers a few million dollars by jumping on the band wagon right away without really looking at the evidence. I see he could do the same with protesters who, I believe, did far less damage to the building than the media and others involved have reported.
Prosecutions should never be monetized. If D.A. Rosen is continuing to defend his irregular fundraising, one has to wonder how widespread Rosen’s practice truly is.
Rosen, by getting greedy, botched this case. He handed the defense the opportunity to switch prosecutors. Bonta, who is on the ballot and wants to appease the anti-isreal crazies in his party, will decide to drop the case. Rosen should have restrained his urge to make money off this case. He’d done his constituents a real disservice.
This ruling is a welcome halt to DA Rosen’s unprofessional conduct. His potential conflict of interest was so severe as to interfere with the defendants’ right to due process! What does that say about his commitment to justice? To the rules of law?
How can County members feel safe with such a man at the helm of the judicial system?
Luckily, voters have the opportunity to kick him out of office in the June 2 election.