One of a multitude of expected lawsuits was filed this week alleging that the Los Angeles District Attorney's Office under George Gascon is rife with operational dysfunction and is a hotbed of retaliation for those who stand up and speak out against what is happening.
Victoria Adams was the second highest-ranking member of District Attorney Jackie Lacey’s Executive Management Team. After Lacey, Adams was the highest-ranking woman and African American in the history of the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office.
In that capacity, Vicki oversaw the management of hundreds of the most experienced attorneys in the office, including the entire Special Operations Division. Adams was the only member of Lacey’s EMT that survived the transition to become part of Gascon’s EMT. Adams was also the only Gascon EMT member with knowledge or experience in the District Attorney’s Office structure and operations.
After speaking out against and refusing to go along with what she reasonably believed to be illegal and unethical practices and policies implemented by Gascon, Adams was systematically stripped of her access to information and authority to oversee the critical operations of the Office that she had managed for years. Adams has been transferred to an assignment with no purpose, and she now supervises one employee, her secretary. Many of Adams's previous responsibilities are currently being carried out by a political supporter who had only tried a handful of cases before Gascon was elected and former public defenders who still regard defendants as “clients.”
Adams’s lawsuit reveals widespread dysfunction and incompetence in the Gascon administration from the moment he was sworn in. The dysfunction continues to this day. The Office is woefully understaffed by about 200 attorneys. The Office is also woefully lacking in administrative support staff. In addition to staff shortages, existing human resources are poorly allocated, resulting in an operational crisis impacting the work product inside and outside the courtrooms.
I have attached the pertinent part of Adams’s lawsuit below.
We stand with you! Let's give the people who they need!
You are a man of integrity Mr. McKinney and has always stood up for Victims and their families.
God trusted you with a little and now he is getting ready to ENLARGE YOUR TERRITORY!