Judge denies request to recuse Kern DA’s Office

A Kern County Superior Court judge on Tuesday denied a defense attorney’s request to rescue the Kern County District Attorney’s Office and instead appoint the California Attorney General’s Office as the prosecutor for a case in which a woman is suspected of giving her unlicensed teenage son the keys to her car, which resulted in a fatality.

Candie Springer, 45, is charged with willful cruelty to a child and allowing an unlicensed driver to operate a vehicle. At Tuesday’s hearing, Springer’s defense attorney, David Torres, tried to have the

DA’s office recused because one of the deputy district attorneys is dating one of the key witnesses.

Deputy Attorney General Heather Gimle confirmed during Tuesday’s hearing via phone call that the deputy DA that Torres was referring to is Cyrus Shahbazian. However, Torres and the prosecutor on the case, Deputy District Attorney Kacie Barrier, did not mention Shahbazian by name during the hearing.

Torres said that deputy DA Shabazian’s relationship may bias his girlfriend’s opinion on the case. He argued it would be a logical path to recuse the DA’s office to protect the integrity of the courts in the eyes of the community.

Gimle said Torres’ argument does not meet the statute to recuse the prosecution. According to the penal code to recuse prosecutors, there are two qualifications for a conflict: It must conflict with the DA’s office to handle a case with an even hand and the conflict must be so grave that it is unlikely the defendant will get fair treatment.

In the middle of Torres’ explanation, Judge David Wolf cut off Torres to mention that in the past, the DA’s office was still assigned to some cases in which prosecutors unrelated to the case had a personal connection with people involved in the case. He said unless a prosecutor was a victim in a case, usually the DA’s office handles the case.

Barrier argued that she and Shabazian only see each other in passing in the courts, and they do not work closely together. She said the two work in different departments, on different floors and with different supervisors. The judge agreed that DDA Shabazian’s relationship would not be a conflict to Barrier’s case and denied the recusal.

According to a Bakersfield Police Department report submitted to the courts, Springer’s son was supposed to go to the market to get food but after going to the market, the teenager went to pick up three friends at Polo Community Park.

According to the report, BPD officers chased the teenager and eventually, the boy crashed into a tree and one of his passengers died on June 10.

The Kern County Probation Department was unable to comment on the details of Springer’s son’s case.

Springer is scheduled to appear in court again May 14 for her pre-preliminary hearing and May 15 for her preliminary hearing. She is out of custody.