DA’s Office Sanctioned for Procedural Violation

The Santa Barbara District Attorney’s office failed to meet a court-ordered deadline to make payment of nearly $5,000 in sanctions to the defense attorney of a Goleta business, United Paving, currently being sued by the DA for allegedly violating a host of environmental laws. The deadline for the payment was 11/29. Chief Deputy District Attorney Kelly Scott reached a last-minute understanding with United Paving’s attorney Jill Friedman, thus narrowly saving the DA’s Office from being in contempt of an order issued by Judge Donna Geck last month. Geck found county prosecutors failed to provide Friedman documents via the discovery process, and she ordered the monetary sanctions to compensate Friedman for the time and effort she expended getting prosecutors to comply. None of this goes to the underlying merits of the case, which Scott suggested might be settled.