Several federal prosecutors, including the head of the public corruption and civil rights division, have submitted their resignation to sheriff’s deputies who have already been found guilty of using excessive force following a plea deal proposed by a new US lawyer in Los Angeles.
Two sources confirmed that U.S. lawyers Eli A. Alcaraz, Brian R. Farstein and section chief Cassie Palmer have resigned from the office over a “post-trial” judicial agreement filed Thursday.
Arrived on Saturday afternoon, Farstein said there was no comment. No other prosecutors have been said to have resigned. Sources confirming his resignation called for anonymity for fear of retaliation. A spokesman for the US Lawyer’s Office declined to comment.
Kirk, “released from duty” by the Sheriff’s Office, was convicted in February of one felony of disenfranchising himself under the rights of color in the law, faced in prison for up to 10 years. He will serve in prison for up to one year under the plea agreement filed Thursday, which requires approval from a judge. The government agreed to recommend a year of probation.
In June 2023, Kirk was threw a woman on the ground and responding to a robbery reported when Pepper sprayed her in the face while filming him outside Winco in Lancaster. The woman coincided with the woman’s account of the suspect that Kirk received from the dispatcher, but he was not armed or committed a crime when he first stood up, court records show.
Under the new contract, Kirk pleads guilty to a misdemeanor offence with less disenfranchisment under the law’s rights of color.
If the contract is approved by a judge, the agreement would result in the US law firm “attacking” the ju apprentice’s finding that Kirk had injured the victim.
Alcaraz, Palmer, Farstein and another prosecutor Michael J. Morse withdrew from the case Friday, according to a court application. Robert J. Keenan, the only assistant US lawyer to sign a judicial contract, was not previously involved in the case.
The consent also includes Bill Essayri, who was appointed US lawyer for Los Angeles by President Trump last month.
Kirk’s attorney Tom Yu declined to comment Friday evening. Previously, he described Kirk as a “hero, not a criminal” and said the video showed that he acted within the law to “detain a suspected combat robber.”
The essays’ move to provide misdemeanor pleas to already convicted defendants is highly unorthodox, according to Carly Palmer, a former director of the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Los Angeles, currently a partner at Halpern Ibarra Gelberg LLP.
“It’s not unprecedented, but it’s extraordinary to withdraw the jury verdict and try to replace it with a judicial agreement for less crimes. The government will invest extraordinary resources to bring such cases to justice,” she said. “You have an agency investigation and you have all the time for men or women… Then you have a jury who says you got it beyond reasonable doubt.”
Palmer said in order to seek a plea bargain after the conviction, prosecutors had to find evidence that the defendant was innocent or that there had been serious misconduct on the part of the trial team.
Last month, US District Judge Stephen V. Wilson denied the allegation from Yu for his acquittal. Wilson found footage of the incident to be sufficient evidence to discover that Kirk is using “objectively irrational forces.”
“JH had no weapons, he didn’t attack the accused, he didn’t try to escape, and he didn’t actively commit any crimes,” Wilson wrote, identifying the women involved in the initials.
The judge also said that Kirk had acted aggressively towards the women from the start, but his partner led the arrest of other suspects without using force.
There is a noticeable difference in the way the new judicial agreement explains what Kirk did, compared to a press release issued by the U.S. Attorney’s Office in February, when the ju judge returned his conviction.
The agreement makes reference to a woman who “resisted” Kirk’s attempt to restrain her, describing her as “swatting” in the arms of her lieutenant.
In a ruling last month, Wilson determined that this could be considered a victim reflexively reacting to Kirk’s actions, and noted that it is unclear whether she will hit Kirk.
The judicial agreement also does not mention the injuries to women, but in a February release it stated that it was “treated due to blunt head injuries and injuries to the head, arms and wrists.”
Attorney Carrie Harper, who represents the women in a civil lawsuit that reached a settlement earlier this year, said the new plea deal is “changing facts” and that it is not supported by video footage of the case.
“They have decided to take creative freedom in the facts and give the middle finger to a fellow ju umpire of Trevor Kirk, but that should not be tolerated,” she told The Times. If Wilson approves the agreement, Harper said he expects civil rights groups to launch a protest and encourage state or county prosecutors to file a lawsuit.
Harper said downgrading Kirk’s charges from a felony would allow him to continue working as a law enforcement officer. He also reserves the right to own a firearm without a felony conviction.
“He definitely shouldn’t be able to wear a badge again anywhere in any state,” she said.
Post-conviction plea bargains are extremely rare, according to former federal judge Robert Bonner, who currently chairs the county’s civil oversight committee. Allowing a plea after trial could undermine the prosecutor’s ability to negotiate in the future, Bonner said.
“If I did this on a daily basis, I couldn’t get a plea deal,” he said.
Despite both federal prosecutors and defense attorneys agreeing to the deal, Bonner said the judges need not adhere to it.
“He can either reject the entire plea deal or accept the plea deal and say I am not going to give him a year of probation. I am going to give him six months in jail or another period in prison up to one year,” he said.
Wilson refused to delay Kirk’s May 19th ruling hearing last month after prosecutors said he wanted more time for the essay to review the case.
Support for Kirk began to gain social media steam after being indicted last September. In January, Nick Wilson, founder of the First Responder Advocacy Group and spokesman for the Los Angeles Sheriff’s Specialist Association, wrote to Trump urging him to step in before the lawsuit goes to trial. Alex Villanueva, an increasingly popular online in right-wing circles, has posted an Instagram video of himself defending Kirk’s case and comforting his lieutenant in court after the trial.
Wilson, a spokesman for the Sheriff’s Specialist Association, said Friday that he was “encouraged by the recent developments of Deputy Trevor Kirk and will continue to closely monitor future rulings.”
“While this case should not have been prosecuted in the first place, the Department of Justice is deeply grateful for the second most fair view of the facts and merit,” he said in an email. “This measure sends a strong message not only for Trevor’s case, but also for state and national law enforcement officials who feel abandoned or politically targeted in today’s climate.”
A spokesman for the LA County Sheriff’s Department did not immediately comment on the development of Kirk’s case.
The wave of resignation lies among other recent controversies in the federal prosecutor’s office. In March, White House officials fired Adam Schleifer in a one-line email informing him that the fire was “on behalf of President Donald J. Trump.”
Schleifer recently challenged him to fire him, calling it “illegal,” and claims it was motivated by the indictment of Andrew Weederhorn, former chairman and chief executive of Fat Brand, which owns the Fat Burger and Johnny Rockets restaurant chain. Schleifer also posted negative comments about Trump.
According to independent legal reporter Meghann Cuniff, the Justice Department is considering another case that includes former FBI informant Alexander Smirnov, who pleaded guilty to lying about a fake bribery scheme involving President Biden and his son Hunter. A federal judge sentenced Smirnov to six years in prison.
The LA U.S. Prosecutor’s Office’s turmoil follows a massive resignation at the U.S. Lawyer’s Office in Manhattan earlier this year.
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