Contra Costa DA resigns, is now a convicted felon
MARTINEZ — In what his attorney called a “Shakespearean tragedy,” Contra Costa District Attorney Mark Peterson resigned from office Wednesday, before pleading no contest to a single count of felony perjury.
Peterson entered the plea at his arraignment hearing Wednesday afternoon, just hours after the California attorney general charged him with 12 counts of felony perjury and one count of felony grand theft. Peterson illegally spent more than $66,000 in campaign cash over a five-year period, and last month a county grand jury formally accused him of willful or corrupt misconduct that warranted his removal as DA.
On Wednesday, Contra Costa Superior Court Judge Theresa Canepa sentenced Peterson to 250 hours of community service and three years of probation, during which time he is barred from running for office. His resignation means that Chief Deputy Doug MacMaster, Peterson’s appointed second in command, will likely take the helm of the office, though he has not yet been appointed acting DA.
In exchange for his plea, the other 12 felony charges were dropped, as was a pending civil case sparked by a county grand jury investigation that could have resulted in his forcible removal from office.
Read more: http://www.mercurynews.com/2017/06/14/contra-costa-da-due-in-court-wednesday-afternoon/
