Longtime Prosecutor Won’t Seek a 7th Term

Riverside County Dist. Atty. Grover Trask, known for having one of the top conviction rates in California and for his decision not to prosecute the police officers involved in the controversial Tyisha Miller shooting, announced Wednesday that he would not seek reelection.

Trask, 56, has served as Riverside County’s top prosecutor since 1983 and said he had no desire to run for another elected position but was vague about his plans.

“After six terms as an elected official, it’s a fishbowl I survived and thrived in but one I want to get out of,” said Trask, who will remain in office until his term ends in 2006.

Trask declined to endorse a potential successor but had previously acknowledged that Assistant Dist. Atty. Rod Pacheco, a former three-term assemblyman, was being groomed for the post.

“I want Rod to have the opportunity to make his own plans and his own announcement,” Trask said. “In fairness to everybody else who might be interested in stepping forward, I don’t want to be perceived as anointing someone.”

Trask faced few serious political challengers during his tenure, winning six elections, running unopposed twice and defeating his 2002 opponent with 62% of the vote.

In 1982, the then-deputy district attorney succeeded Byron Morton as district attorney and has since presided over an office that has increased its budget from $7 million in 1982 to $55 million this year, as staff increased fivefold to more than 500.

Trask’s office convicted a state-leading 86% of those arrested on suspicion of felony charges in the county, filing charges against 96% of those arrested, according to a Department of Justice study of 2001 state criminal justice records released last year.

“I’m very focused on direct results.... I take pride that if you get arrested in this county, the likelihood you won’t be prosecuted is 4% -- that’s public safety and an obvious sign that the system is working,” Trask said.

One of the most controversial decisions during Trask’s years in office was not prosecuting four white Riverside police officers involved in the 1998 shooting of 19-year-old black motorist Tyisha Miller, who was killed in a hail of police gunfire as she sat in her car with a gun on her lap.

Trask said he was convinced that no jury would have convicted the officers because there was not sufficient evidence that their actions were criminal.

“I disagreed with his decision and thought the rationale used to decline charges was law enforcement rationale,” said Chani Beeman, former chairwoman of the city of Riverside’s Human Relations Commission.

Trask “has been around a long time,” she said. “In some ways, that’s a good thing. But sometimes it’s not so good because his ties with police seem a little too close after all that time.”

The attorney who represented Miller’s family in a civil suit against the city agreed and said Trask’s decision not to prosecute the officers in the Miller case was not unique.

“The Riverside County D.A. has never filed criminal charges against a police officer involved in a fatal shooting on duty, and that office is very close to Riverside police,” said Riverside attorney Andrew Roth.

Trask said he took extraordinary measures to ensure that the Miller investigation was independent and “above the controversy.” He called in the U.S. attorney’s office and the state attorney general’s office to observe the investigation, and later released a 40-page report on the findings.

“In the aftermath, you don’t see us mentioned in the controversy, and I believe that’s because we did a thorough job,” Trask said.

State Atty. Gen. Bill Lockyer called Trask a “great prosecutor” who has served the county well.

“As attorney general, I’ve thoroughly enjoyed and appreciated working with him to enhance public safety,” Lockyer said Wednesday.

Trask said that among his greatest accomplishments as district attorney was addressing the high turnover rate among deputy prosecutors.

He said 91 of his 175 deputies have spent at least eight years in the office.

“Grover Trask brought great stability to that office.... He’s the kind of man you want making the major decisions in your county,” defense attorney Steve Harmon said.

“As a defense attorney, you walk into court knowing you’ll be facing a formidable foe who’ll be knowledgeable and prepared,” he said.

Trask was noncommittal about his retirement plans, saying he would be “challenged to accomplish something important, whether it be on the legal, management, policy issue or legislative front. I want to remain an impact player.”