Michael Ramos, a former district attorney for San Bernardino County, has agreed to a six-month suspension under the California Law Practice Act, allegedly destroying evidence in a 2017 corruption case, California’s lawyer said in a statement to the Times.
The incident included corruption charges against three San Bernardino County officials and the developer, who was the managing director of the Rancho Cucamonga-based investor group Colony Partner.
The four were charged in 2011 with multiple charges stemming from a land dispute between the county and the colony partners.
Prosecutors alleged that the four men took part in a bribery scheme several years ago, designed to resolve disputes that favor the company. In 2006, county supervisors voted 3-2 to settle with the colony over objections to the county’s legal staff.
Eventually, three of the four defendants were acquitted in 2017, and the charges were removed later that year. Several parties filed suits against Ramos, alleging fraud during the corruption case.
The following year, the colony defendant sued the county that he was allegedly engaged in “retaliatory, malicious or politically motivated investigations and prosecutions, including failure to commit criminal cases against various plaintiffs.” Ramos lost his bid for reelection in the second half of 2018.
During the discovery stage of the lawsuit, Ramos asked for written communication, but according to a contract signed by Ramos and State Bar, he had deleted his campaign address and emails directed towards his text message.
In 2020, a US Magistrate Judge concluded that Ramos “has an obligation to save emails and text messages, and that he found an excuse because he was less accepted.”
“It is shocking that counsel who are district attorneys in particular, especially those who are district attorneys, act “malicious” and destroy evidence related to ongoing lawsuits,” writes Stephen Larson of Larson LLP.
Larson denounced Ramos for “political persecution” and said he “destroyed evidence of his evil deeds.”
Ramos did not respond to requests for comment. He is listed as a faculty member at UC Riverside.
The suspension agreement was approved by a state court and sent to the California Supreme Court.
“Prosecutors exercise enormous power and discretion, and as a result, their responsibility to comply with the ethical standards of the legal profession,” state Attorney General George Cardona said. “This prescribed discipline, if approved by the California Supreme Court, reinforces the state’s Bar’s commitment to ensuring that those who violate the rules governing the conduct of lawyers are held liable, regardless of their title or position.”
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