Former Alameda County DA O'Malley backs recall of Pamela Price
Alameda County District Attorney Pamela Price and former DA Nancy O'Malley both had words to say about each other on Wednesday as the race to recall Price nears its end.
Former Alameda County District Attorney O'Malley on Wednesday announced she was backing the recall of her successor, Pamela Price.
O'Malley made the announcement during a virtual press conference. She is firing back at Price after the current DA said her office is working to correct a backlog of misdemeanor and domestic violence cases.
"I am fully endorsing the recall of Pamela Price, and I've been working diligently under the radar to make sure that that happens," said O'Malley.
Price said a lack of case file dating has led to hundreds of cases surpassing the statute of limitations, meaning those cases can no longer be prosecuted, adding that the backlog was there before she became district attorney.
O'Malley denied those charges on Wednesday and countered by saying it's Price who is unfit for the office.
"She's used this office improperly. She uses it to intimidate. Of course, she takes any chance to criticize me erroneously for things that I didn't do," said O'Malley. "She discriminates against people she doesn't like or even people of color. And she creates a hostile work environment for many of the hard-working, highly ethical lawyers, victim advocates, administrative staff and investigative staff, so that many of them have eventually left."
O'Malley served in the office for a decade from 2010 to 2022. Price won the seat in 2022.
O'Malley is not the only former or current official to throw their support behind the recall. Earlier in October, Rep. Eric Swalwell announced he was backing the effort to remove the embattled DA.
CBS News Bay Area reached out to District Attorney Price's office for a response and has not heard back, but the DA held a press conference at 1 p.m. to talk about prosecutorial misconduct in Death Row cases.
Price's office has been reviewing 35 death penalty cases for possible misconduct in which former prosecutors allegedly excluded Black and Jewish jurors. Price said her office found evidence that a former senior prosecutor covered up evidence of that misconduct and that it happened under the supervision of then Chief Deputy DA O'Malley.
That former senior prosecutor is now a sitting judge.
"I think what the public should know, and what I presume, is that Ms. O'Malley must have received word about this press conference today and that we were at a point where we felt compelled to reveal to the public the kind of complicity in this office to prosecutorial misconduct," Price said.
DA Price said the investigation into the alleged coverup is ongoing, and when asked her thoughts on O'Malley endorsing Price's recall, Price had the following to say.
"What the public should know is that this is a sign, apparently, that we must be getting close to uncovering the role that Ms. O'Malley played as the former leader of this office when this prosecutorial conduct was taking place."
Price said she has referred her findings to the Commission on Judicial Performance