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Birgit Fladager

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Birgit Fladager
Stanislaus County District Attorney
In office
July 11, 2006 (2006-07-11) – January 3, 2023 (2023-01-03)
Preceded byJim Brazelton
Succeeded byJeff Laugero
Personal details
Alma materMcGeorge School of Law
WebsiteOfficial website

Birgit Fladager is the former District Attorney of Stanislaus County, California. She was elected in June, 2006 and re-elected in 2010 and 2014. In each of those years, she got more than 50% of the vote in the primary election. She did not achieve this in 2018 and so ran against Deputy District Attorney John R. Mayne in the general election.[1] She won that election and continued to be in office as of 2020.[2]

She retired January 3rd of 2023. She was succeeded by Jeff Laugero, who ran unopposed in 2022.

Early life

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Career

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Birgit Fladager is the first elected female district attorney of Stanislaus County, California.[3] One of Fladager's earliest national appearances was on an episode of Forensic Files about the murder of a teenage girl by her stepfather Douglas Mouser.[4] Fladager was the deputy district attorney on the Douglas Mouser case and helped convict him.[4]

Fladager made national headlines as one of the attorneys on prosecution team for Scott Peterson, who was convicted in 2004 for murdering his pregnant wife, Laci Peterson.[5][6][7] Fladager was later in the news again for not retrying corruption charages against the Modesto mayor Carmen Sabatino (in 2006)[8] and saying she would retry George Souliotes for murder in 2013, before settling the case for involuntary manslaughter.[9]

Fladager was found to have not committed retaliation against former prosecutor Douglas Maner (Fladager's former employee).[10] During depositions in that case, Fladager admitted reducing a prosecutor's suspension for driving under the influence from 45 days to 10 days and said the public was unlikely to ever find out about the change in discipline.[11] In 2018, there was controversy about an admission that Fladager made when saying that she did not want senior attorneys to tell rookie attorneys that the defendants they were prosecuting were innocent, even when true.[12]

Frank Carson case

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Prominent Modesto attorney Frank Carson and many others were arrested in August 2015 for the murder of Korey Kaufman, believed to be a petty thief who stole from Carson.[13]

Carson ran against Fladager for District Attorney in 2014.[14] A preliminary hearing went 18 months, breaking the record for preliminary hearing length. The record was formerly held by the McMartin Preschool case.[15]

Carson was subsequently acquitted and Fladager stands accused of prosecutorial misconduct related to the matter.[16][17]

Electoral history

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Stanislaus County, California District Attorney

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In 2018, Fladager was challenged by Mayne, Patrick Kolasinski, and Stephen O'Connor in the District Attorney race.[18]

See also

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References

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  1. ^ "Stanislaus County Voter Guide" (PDF).
  2. ^ Valine, Kevin (October 5, 2020). "3 newcomers, political veteran vie to represent northeast Modesto on City Council". The Modesto Bee. Retrieved September 12, 2021.
  3. ^ "Profile of McGeorge Alumni Birgit Fladager — McGeorge School of Law". Archived from the original on 2018-02-27. Retrieved 2018-11-07.
  4. ^ a b "Woman claimed to be victim of storm to get aid from Red Cross". Modesto Bee. Modesto Bee. Archived from the original on 10 November 2005. Retrieved 24 September 2018.
  5. ^ "Sharon Rocha Goes 'On the Record'". Fox News. Fox News. 25 March 2015. Retrieved 7 August 2018.
  6. ^ "Scott Peterson Prosecutors Speak Out on Upcoming Datline".
  7. ^ "THE PETERSON TRIAL / Observers praise officer's testimony / 8 days on stand provide overview of prosecution's case". SF Gate. SF Gate. October 2004. Retrieved 7 August 2018.
  8. ^ "Corruption charges against ex-Modesto mayor dropped". SF Gate. SF Gate. 12 July 2006. Retrieved 7 August 2018.
  9. ^ "Former Modesto landlord is free after 16 years in prison". modbee. Retrieved 2018-10-18.
  10. ^ "Political retaliation lawsuit against Stanislaus DA's Office thrown out". Modesto Bee. Modesto Bee. Retrieved 25 August 2018.
  11. ^ "Ex-senior prosecutor airs Stanislaus County DA's Office dirty laundry". modbee. Retrieved 2018-10-18.
  12. ^ "BIRGIT FLADAGER INSISTS PROSECUTORS PUT INNOCENT DEFENDANTS ON TRIAL FOR THE EXPERIENCE……". Dawgonnit-Dawg's Blog. 2018-05-16. Retrieved 2018-10-18.
  13. ^ "BREAKING NEWS UPDATE: Prominent Modesto defense attorney Frank Carson arrested on suspicion of murder, 3 CHP officers also arrested in connection with case". fresnobee. Retrieved 2018-10-18.
  14. ^ "June 3, 2014 Stanislaus County election results".
  15. ^ "Carson, two others to stand trial for murder; two defendants not charged". modbee. Retrieved 2018-10-18.
  16. ^ Sponsor, Local (2021-07-27). "Lawyer, CHP officers and others accused in murder case, seeking justice". The Oaklandside. Retrieved 2023-01-09.
  17. ^ "California Defense Attorney Sues DA Office for Wrongful Arrest in Murder Case". www.courthousenews.com. Retrieved 2023-01-09.
  18. ^ "District Attorney Birgit Fladager will have competition in 2018 election". Modesto Bee. Modesto Bee. Retrieved 7 August 2018.
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