Contra Costa County DA served with 'Notice of Intent' to recall

MORAGA, Calif. - Another Bay Area District Attorney is facing a recall effort, this time in Contra Costa County. District Attorney Diana Becton was served with a "Notice of Intent to Recall" on Monday. 

The trend of recall efforts aimed at progressive-leaning DAs has grown in the Bay Area, after Chesa Boudin was recalled in San Francisco and the historic recall of Alameda County District Attorney Pamela Price. 

Video shared on the "Recall District Attorney Diana Becton" website shows the moment that Becton was served with the notice. She was entering the back door of her office in Martinez when she was served. 

Will the recall effort move forward?

What's next:

The "Notice of Intent" to recall requires a rather low threshold, only 100 verified signatures of Contra Costa County voters.  Getting the recall on the ballot is a long way off; that will require signatures from 10% of registered voters in the county—about 70,000 signatures. 

"My understanding is that District Attorney Becton has seven days to respond to the recently filed Notice of Intention at the Clerk-Recorder's office," DA spokesman Ted Asregadoo said.  "When DA Becton does respond, her answer will be her public comment on the Notice of Intention to circulate a petition."

Asregadoo said any questions about the recall should be directed to Becton's 2022 campaign manager, Champagne Brown.

Who supports the recall?

The backstory:

KTVU spoke with the loved ones of 20-year-old Allie Sweitzer, who was shot and killed by two people in 2017. Her mother, Melanie Schwartz says that Becton refused to support them in getting more severe sentences for her killers. 

One of those shooters was under the age 16 at the time of the crime. California law changed as the murder case was moving through the system. 

In 2018, former California Governor Jerry Brown signed SB-1391 which raised the minimum age for a minor to be tried as an adult from 14-years-old to 16-years-old. As a result, one of Sweitzer's killers is already out of state custody, according to Sweitzer's family. 

The case of Alexis Gabe, who was killed by her ex-boyfriend in 2022, is another that bolstered the first steps in the recall effort against Becton. Gabe's family searched for her remains for nearly two years. Her ex-boyfriend and suspected killer Marshall Jones was shot and killed months after her disappearance by law enforcement serving a warrant relating to the case. However, Gabe's family believes that Jones' mother, Alicia Coleman-Clark, had a hand in hiding Gabe's remains. 

In January, Becton's office announced Coleman-Clark would not be charged with any crime, due to a lack of evidence. Her office stated that a piece of evidence, a plastic bag that contained some of Gabe's remains, went missing and was never tested for DNA. 

Gwyn Gabe, her father, told KTVU that this recall isn't about revenge. 

"It’s not retribution for us joining the recall…it’s just that it’s not just us. There’s a lot of families that she failed," Gabe told KTVU in January. 

The "Recall District Attorney Diana Becton" supporters are planning to hold a press conference later this week.