www.websleuths.com, which has been keeping up with the Ayres case, is reporting that the California Bar Association has said that anyone who has a problem with the San Mateo District Attorney's handling of the Dr. William Ayres case can file a complaint. The California Bar states that ANYONE - not just the victims or their families- has standing to complain.

The California Bar looks at complaints of prosecutorial misconduct, including unethical behavior, incompetence and inappropriate behavior.

Misconduct might include false statements made about evidence and witnesses by a prosecutor. Incompetent behavior might include a DA's office that fails to follow through on leads and engages in "case dumping." Inappropriate behavior might include insensitive and/or abusive actions by a prosecutor towards victims and witnesses.

See California Bar website for more information:
http://www.calbar.ca.gov/Attorneys/LawyerRegulation/ComplaintForm.aspx

Link to thread on Ayres case at Websleuths: http://www.websleuths.com/forums/showthread.php?t=105573&page=19

Many victims of Ayres and their families now believe that there's no excuse for the Ayres case to drag on this long.

Case in point: the identical Blankenburg twins, both pediatricians in Ohio. Arrested in March 2009 on more than 70 counts of child molestation, possession of child porn and bribery to keep the boys they molested quiet. A ziilion times more complicated than the Ayres case. The state of Ohio managed to convict one twin just seven months after the arrest. The other pled guilty two months after that.
http://www.wlwt.com/r/21317837/detail.html

There are other cases of pedophile doctors who have been arrested and convicted since Ayres was arrested in 2007.

Some people are asking that the Ayres case be taken over by the Attorney General's office. We think that's a good idea.

Perhaps the San Mateo DA's office has been dragging its feet for fear of lawsuits against the County. Ayres had a contract with the juvenile courts for years, despite the fact that there were many molestation complaints against him.

The complaint with the bar is a viable avenue to file grievances. When filing stick to facts. One important factor is the failure to recuse when the court system and prosecution has had a concractual and ongoing relationship with the defendant with possibilty of liability if defendant is convicted.

Ayres had a contract with the juvenile courts for years. Ayres is quoted in a civil deposition for a molestation civil suit that back when Judge Marta Diaz was a prosecutor in the District Attorney's office, she hired Ayres.

Also, a reminder, we are told by the California Bar that ANYONE has standing to file complaints to the California Bar if they feel that there has been unethical misconduct or incompetence or inappropriate conduct by the San Mateo DA's office in the Ayres case.

If you do file a complaint, you will need the following information

Case number: SC064366 AYRES, WILLIAM HAMILTON, filed 08-21-2007

Redwood City, California courthouse.

Posted over at Websleuths:

The going belief is that Ayres will never be retried for his crimes. In addition to not having the satisfaction of seeing Ayres behind bars, this is also troubling for the victims who have filed civil suits.

For those who believe that the San Mateo District Attorney's office has been incompetent, unethical and/or inappropriate on this case, in addition to the California Bar, you can also contact Cookie Ridolfi, Director of the Northern California Innocence Project. Ridolfi just came out with a study showing that prosecutorial misconduct in California is rampant and that prosecutors are seldom disciplined.

Rest assured that the Northern California Innocence Project is very aware of the Dr. William Ayres case.

Contact Ridolfi at: 408-554-4790.
or kridolfi@scu.edu

http://law.scu.edu/site/cookie-ridolfi/

We have been told that the new President of the California State Bar is very interested in looking at District Attorney's offices who "dump" cases, or don't work hard on them in the hopes that they won't have to prosecute.

Some of you who have been following the Ayres case may know that the prosecutor on the case, Melissa Mckowan and the San Mateo District Attorney's office are being sued by a family in another child molestation case. They allege that Mckowan lied to a judge to get out of trying their case. Their lawyer is Nina Salarno Ashford of Crime Victims United.

In another high profile case, Salarno Ashford is representing the family of the victim who was killed by a gang that included the son of a California politician. They are suing because just before he left office, Schwarzenegger reduced the sentence of the prisoner.

LA Times article:http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-nunez-20110121,0,2267060.story

There's a news story out in a paper in San Mateo County today- the county where the Ayres trial took place. It talks about an FBI investigation. We have reason to believe the investigation has something to do with the San Mateo District Attorney's office:
http://www.almanacnews.com/news/show_story.php?id=8288

When we say, "It has something to do with the San Mateo District Attorney's office" - we don't mean that the San Mateo DA's office is working with the FBI on this. That's all we're saying at this point.

Updates: The Atherton Almanac is now reporting that the FBI investigation is focused on a number of people who work for San Mateo County. Who would those people be? I am sure we will find out.

There's also an item about the FBI investigation in today's San Jose Mercury News, although the reporter is not aware that the scope of the investigation in San Mateo County- where Dr. Ayres practiced for more than forty years- is much more extensive.
"What FBI Investigation?"
http://www.mercurynews.com/peninsula/ci_17369643