Sally Moreno strikes back at claims in voter publication

District attorney candidate Sally Moreno said she was troubled, but not shocked, by the recent allegations made by current District Attorney David Linn in a Madera Tribune Voters Guide.

Among the claims he made were that Moreno had her license to practice law “revoked on two separate occasions.”

“I wish I was surprised, but in truth I’m not. I worked here with Mr. Linn in Madera for six months (after his election as DA in 2014). This is exactly what he does... He doesn’t tell the truth. He doesn’t feel like the rest of us, that he’s obligated to say things that are true. That’s part of what made it impossible for me to stay and have a working relationship with him. Numerous other attorneys have left since he took office for similar reasons.” Moreno said.

“The job of a prosecutor, the DA’s office, is to do justice for the whole community. It’s a different job than private (defense) attorneys who are concerned about the rights and interests of one client at a time. I began working as a prosecutor in 1996, and have always viewed being a prosecutor as a vocation. It seems like Linn, (a former private attorney), sees it as just a job, hopefully one that will provide him with a retirement and full medical coverage.”

‪”The report made public by the Madera County Board of Supervisors speaks for itself,” Moreno said.

She was referring to a report by an attorney who interviewed members of Linn’s staff about claims that Linn used vulgar language in the office, and that he was insulting to women and would throw temper tantrums.

After speaking to some of the complainants and getting a copy of the report, the Board of Supervisors censured Linn and called on him to resign. That was at about the time Linn had announced he was going to investigate the board, an investigation that since has been turned over to the California Attorney General’s office.

“Mr. Linn can deny the allegations all he wants,” Moreno said. “The allegations were found to be credible by an outside, independent law firm investigating them. The allegations were leveled by 10 separate attorneys in his own office, each of whom was under oath. He’s trying to make that look like the allegations are coming from the Madera County Board of Supervisors, but they are not. The allegations are coming from the lawyers in his own office. The report was made public and is available for anyone that wants to read it.” Moreno said.

“Linn’s striking back at the board of supervisors is his attempt to distract from the substantiated allegations made against him.”

Moreno also took issue to Linn’s claim that Moreno’s law license had been revoked.

“My law license was never revoked,” she said. “I chose not to renew my law license because my husband and I decided it was best for me to come home and spend some time focusing on our children.” Moreno responded. “This something I am very proud of, and I think Mr. Linn should apologize for — his outrageous claims attempting to mislead the hardworking families of Madera.” Moreno added.

“It’s misinformation,” she said, “He’s clearly threatened by my experience and successes. That’s what provokes this kind of response.” Moreno said a review of her history at the California Bar Association shows two periods when she was ineligible to practice, corresponding with the dates of birth of her last two children, and no history of discipline.

Moreno also wanted to know how Linn had come up with the many other bizarre claims he has made in his recent campaign advertising.

“I don’t understand where he’s gotten his facts about being the best district attorney in the history of Madera County and the best district attorney in the Valley. It’s crazy to me to think he could claim he’s sent more people to prison out of Madera County than Fresno County, just based on sheer size (of the counties.) He’s sent more felons to prison? He’s personally never tried a case, and I don’t believe he’s ever taken a plea as a prosecutor. He’s clearly not talking about him (self) personally. And historically ... better than District Attorney Ernie LaCalsi, better than Dave Minier? I’d love to see the case statistics or hard facts, in support of those claims.”

Moreno also took issue with assertions by Linn that ridiculed her claims to have been a police officer and a veteran of Desert Storm, and to have gone by several aliases.

“The most bizarre allegation (by DA Linn) is my alleged use of aliases. The only alias I have is my maiden name. Since when is carrying on your family name an alias? If that’s something that is unusual to Mr. Linn, he needs to get over it. When I got married 25 years ago, I added my husband’s name. I believe that is a fairly common practice.”

“I was a police officer in South Central Los Angeles Watts in 1991, 1992. When I left (South Central), I knew I wasn’t going to go back to that. I was moving forward, to go to law school to be a prosecutor.” Moreno said.

“I was in ROTC in college, and right here in this valley later working as a reservist. I was activated in support of Desert Storm. When you sign up you don’t get to choose — I went where the Army sent me and at that time women still had very limited roles. Military police was the closest women could get to combat. I ran a Military Police detachment as a lieutenant, and did port security all up and down the West Coast and in the Gulf of Mexico.

“I am very proud of my military service and as all veterans know we perform as one complete unit to achieve success.”

”One of the things I love about Madera and here in the Valley is the quality of the law enforcement,” Moreno said.

“I am very honored to have the support of the vast majority of Madera County law enforcement including Sheriff Jay Varney, the Madera Deputy Sheriff’s Association, the Madera Probation Officers Association former sheriffs John Anderson and Ed Bates, Mariposa Sheriff Doug Binnewies. In addition, some statewide organizations including Cal-Fire Local 2881, PORAC (a statewide association of Law enforcement officers); the Fish and Game Management Association have endorsed me because of my record of bringing people together for real results. I already think Madera County is one of the best places to live,” said Moreno.