The Prosecutor Record - DA and AG

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The Prosecutor Record — DA and AG (2004–2017)

Harris’s prosecutorial career is the donor-class pipeline in formation. San Francisco DA (2004–2011), California Attorney General (2011–2017). The pattern across both offices: aggressive prosecution of individual poverty crimes, structural restraint on corporate and financial crime, institutional defense of the carceral state even at the cost of innocent people.

San Francisco District Attorney (2004–2011)

The Willie Brown Launch

1994–1995: Harris dated Willie Brown, then-Speaker of the California State Assembly (married but separated 13 years). Brown appointed Harris to two state commissions: the California Unemployment Insurance Appeals Board and the California Medical Assistance Commission. These were entry-level patronage appointments — access to the San Francisco political machine, not policy power.

Harris ended the relationship in late 1995. Brown became SF mayor in 1996. Harris ran for DA in 2003 — nine years after the appointments. The direct electoral impact of the Brown connection is overstated by critics, but the structural access it provided to California’s Democratic donor class is the real story. Brown was the gatekeeper to the SF machine that later funded Harris’s entire career arc.

DA Prosecution Record

Harris ran as a reform prosecutor in 2003. Her actual record was mixed:

Conviction rates:

Felony conviction rate: rose from 52% to 71% during her tenure
Gun crime convictions: rose to 92%
Prison referrals: increased 3x compared to 2001 baseline (pre-Harris)

Marijuana prosecutions:

1,956 misdemeanor and felony marijuana convictions
45 people sent to state prison for marijuana (compared to predecessor Hallinan’s 135)
Later, as Senator and presidential candidate, Harris supported legalization — the same flexibility documented across the vault

Homicide clearance:

Cleared 27 of 74 backlogged homicide cases within first six months

The “Back on Track” reentry program:

Harris’s signature initiative offered first-time nonviolent drug offenders an alternative to prison: GED, job training, community service. 300+ participants. Recidivism rate: 10% vs. 54% statewide average. This was genuine reform — and it became the resume line that built her “progressive prosecutor” brand.

Truancy Prosecutions

San Francisco program (2006–2011):

Created three-stage system: education → intervention → prosecution
Filed six misdemeanor cases against parents in 2008
No parents were jailed; fines were rare and small

Statewide law (2010–2011):

Harris sponsored state law adding Section 270.1 to California Penal Code
Allowed prosecutors to charge parents with misdemeanor for failing to ensure school attendance
Penalties: up to 1 year jail, $2,000 fine
10% truancy threshold before prosecution triggered

Who Gets Prosecuted

In San Francisco under Harris’s direct supervision, the truancy program was intervention-first with minimal prosecution. But the state law she authored was used by other counties — particularly Orange County — to jail parents, overwhelmingly poor mothers of color. Harris later expressed regret for how the law was applied elsewhere, but defended her SF approach. The pattern: reform rhetoric at the local level, punitive infrastructure at the state level, and no accountability for how the tool was used once it left her hands.

California Attorney General (2011–2017)

The Mnuchin Transaction

Follow the Money — OneWest Bank

2012: California DOJ investigation finds OneWest Bank (CEO: Steve Mnuchin) engaged in “widespread misconduct” in foreclosures. Internal memo documents over 1,000 violations of foreclosure laws — backdating documents, violating notice and waiting period laws, rigging foreclosure auctions. By January 2013, OneWest had foreclosed on 35,000 California homes and was beginning foreclosure proceedings on 45,000 more. Prosecutors prepared a draft civil complaint and recommended filing a civil enforcement action.

Early 2013: Harris declines to proceed. Two months after the memo was prepared, no public explanation offered. Her office later claimed OneWest’s federal bank charter shielded it from state subpoenas — but the AG could have filed civil action regardless and chose not to.

2016: Mnuchin donates $2,000 to Harris’s Senate campaign. Harris was the only Democrat running for national office to receive a Mnuchin donation that cycle.

2017: Trump nominates Mnuchin as Treasury Secretary. Harris votes against his confirmation.

The sequence: AG office recommends prosecution → Harris declines → Mnuchin donates → Harris votes against confirmation. The confirmation vote costs nothing. The non-prosecution protected 35,000+ foreclosures from accountability. Whether the $2,000 donation was gratitude or coincidence, the structural fact remains: the AG who could have held a bank accountable for foreclosure fraud on tens of thousands of California homeowners chose not to.

National Mortgage Settlement (2012)

Harris negotiated California’s share of the $25 billion national settlement with five banks (Bank of America, Wells Fargo, JPMorgan Chase, Citigroup, Ally Bank).

The negotiation:

Initial offer to California: $2–4 billion
Harris walked away in fall 2011, calling it inadequate
Final settlement: $20 billion secured for California
~$9.2 billion disbursed in principal reductions for approximately 84,000 homeowners
Average relief per household: ~$109,756 in principal reduction
Direct checks to foreclosure victims: $1,480 per family — roughly one month’s rent in California

The Settlement Math

Harris marketed this as “taking on the big banks” — her signature accomplishment as AG. Housing advocates criticized it as a fraction of actual damages. The banks collectively caused hundreds of billions in losses. They paid $25 billion total (national). The settlement functioned as a cost of doing business — the banks continued operations, homeowners received modest relief, and Harris got a campaign talking point. The banks viewed $25 billion as the price of regulatory peace.

Death Penalty — Defending the System

As SF DA (2004–2011):

Vowed in inaugural address never to charge the death penalty
Declined to seek death penalty for suspect charged with killing a police officer
Kept the promise throughout seven-year tenure

As AG (2011–2017):

2014: Federal judge ruled California’s death penalty unconstitutional. Harris’s office appealed the ruling — actively fighting to preserve the state’s capital punishment system despite her stated personal opposition
Litigated aggressively against DNA testing in the Kevin Cooper case (see below)
The contradiction: personally opposed the death penalty, then used the AG’s office to defend it. When asked during the 2024 campaign, Harris was silent on whether she supported legislation to end capital punishment.

The prosecutor’s flexibility: oppose the system when it’s safe (as DA, where she controlled charging), defend it when the institution requires (as AG, where her job was to represent the state). Career advancement dictated the position.

Kevin Cooper — Death Row DNA Testing

The case: June 4, 1983 — Doug & Peggy Ryen (age 41), daughter Jessica (10), neighbor Christopher Hughes (11) found murdered in Chino Hills. Kevin Cooper — who had escaped from nearby Chino prison two days earlier — convicted and placed on death row in 1985. Cooper has maintained his innocence for four decades.

Harris’s actions (2010–2018):

As AG, her office opposed DNA testing requested by Cooper’s attorneys
Litigated aggressively against DNA evidence consideration in federal proceedings
Fought to defend execution date

The reversal (2018):

After a New York Times article by Nicholas Kristof highlighted police investigator misconduct in the case
Harris — now a U.S. Senator — publicly advocated for DNA testing
December 2018: Governor Brown ordered new DNA testing
The reversal appeared motivated by political pressure (as a Senator positioning for 2020) rather than legal conviction (as AG she had fought testing for eight years)

Daniel Larsen — Wrongful Conviction

1999: Daniel Larsen convicted of possessing a concealed weapon. Sentenced to 27-years-to-life under three strikes. Police claimed they saw Larsen throw a knife under a car during a bar confrontation.

2010: Federal judge finds conviction wrongful — insufficient evidence.

Harris’s response (2010–2012):

Fought to keep Larsen imprisoned for two additional years after the innocence finding
Argued that even if Larsen was innocent, his conviction shouldn’t be reversed because he “waited too long to file his petition”
Office blocked his release on procedural grounds
Refused fair compensation for wrongful conviction

Larsen was released after two additional years of imprisonment following a finding of innocence. Compensation was denied.

George Gage — Suppressed Evidence

The case: George Gage, a 60-year-old electrician with no criminal record, convicted of sexual abuse based solely on the testimony of one accuser (now adult) describing events decades prior. First trial ended in a hung jury.

What was suppressed:

Medical records withheld from defense
A note from the accuser’s own mother stating her daughter was “a pathological liar who lives her lies”
Gage forced to represent himself

Harris’s role (appellate stage, 2015):

Appellate judge signaled Harris’s office should consider dismissing the case
Harris refused
Conviction upheld on procedural technicality despite suppressed exculpatory evidence

Current status: Gage is 80 years old, partially blind, serving a 70-year sentence. Harris refused to dismiss the case.

The Pattern — Class Analysis

Harris’s prosecutorial career shows a consistent structural bias:

Upward restraint: OneWest Bank foreclosure fraud (35,000+ victims) → no prosecution. National Mortgage Settlement → banks pay fraction of damages. Corporate accountability systematically avoided.

Downward aggression: Truancy prosecutions targeting poor parents. Marijuana convictions (1,956 total). Fighting wrongful conviction relief on procedural grounds (Larsen, Gage). Defending death penalty despite personal opposition (Cooper).

The donor-class function: A prosecutor who protects financial institutions from above while prosecuting vulnerable individuals from below is exactly the type of AG the California donor class needs. Harris’s AG tenure built the relationships and reputation that later attracted the same Silicon Valley, Hollywood, and Wall Street donors documented throughout this vault.

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The Prosecutor Record - DA and AG