Britney's Prosecution Now Campaign Fodder
Britney Spears' prosecutor targeted by Los Angeles councilmember in city race.
LOS ANGELES, Dec. 19, 2008 -- Britney Spears has become campaign fodder in Los Angeles.
ABC News has learned that a candidate in the Los Angeles city attorney's race is polling registered voters about his opponent's decision to charge Spears with a misdemeanor for driving without a license. The pop princess recently went to trial for failing to have a California driver's license at the time she was involved in a 2007 hit and run.
The poll asking about Spears is paid for by Jack Weiss, a candidate for Los Angeles city attorney, who currently serves on the city council. The poll begins by characterizing the work that Los Angeles Deputy City Attorney Michael Amerian did on the Spears case.
"Amerian prosecuted singer Britney Spears for driving with an out-of-state driver's license. Normally, people get a ticket for this but Amerian tried to give Spears a criminal record. The judge dismissed the case and Amerian was criticized for using Spears to draw attention to his political campaign," operators are telling voters.
Voters are then asked: "Does that make you very concerned, somewhat concerned, not that concerned, or not concerned?"
The Spears question, which began earlier this week, will continue for the next couple of days. The poll question was designed by Goodwin Simon Victoria, Weiss's opinion research firm, and the calls are being placed by McGuire Research Service.
Weiss political consultant Ace Smith sees the Spears case as aiding the effort to paint Amerian as a "junior city attorney" who is not up to the task of being the chief prosecutor for the city of Los Angeles with jurisdiction to prosecute all misdemeanor criminal offenses and infractions. The city attorney, who overseas 500 lawyers and 1,000 employees overall, is also the chief legal advisor and general counsel to the mayor and the city council, as well as all city agencies.
"The result of the case speaks volumes," said Smith. "Prosecutors always have discretion on charging decisions, and this is a case in which there wasn't good prosecutorial discretion."
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