The Kern County District Attorney’s Office has canceled its service contract with the nonprofit Open Door Network over what it says were public statements by the organization’s CEO potentially jeopardizing prosecutors’ ability to serve justice.
A statement Thursday from the DA’s Office referred to a letter it sent in September asking Open Door Network CEO Lauren Skidmore to “refrain from public comments about pending cases until the case is concluded and sentencing is complete.”
Skidmore earlier accused the DA’s Office of canceling the nonprofit’s contract because of comments she made in February at a Sacramento news conference that focused on a bill introduced by state Sen. Shannon Grove, R-Bakersfield. The legislation was at least partly inspired by a high-profile criminal case involving District Attorney Cynthia Zimmer’s nephew Zack Scrivner, a former county supervisor.
“This feels like a very personal retaliation because of my advocacy with a certain victim in the (Scrivner) family,” Skidmore told The Californian on Thursday.
The DA’s Office did not mention Scrivner’s case in its statement Thursday but referred instead to comments Skidmore made to news reporters regarding other criminal cases.
Because the Family Justice Center that Open Door Network serves is operated by the DA’s Office, it said, there may be an appearance of improper prosecutorial conduct.
“The District Attorney’s Office will not allow unethical conduct by nonprofit partners who value publicity over ethical prosecution to jeopardize the most serious cases we prosecute,” the DA’s Office stated.
The Open Door Network has provided services to victims of abuse at the Kern County Family Justice Center since 2017. Its contract with the DA’s Office does not include financial compensation: The nonprofit’s work there is funded by grants intended to help victims of domestic violence, rape crisis/sexual assault and human trafficking.
Skidmore said she received notice of the contract’s termination in a letter postmarked Feb. 27 — three days after the news conference, but dated Nov. 26 — stating the nonprofit’s services at the center’s locations in Bakersfield and Lamont will need end on April 1.
The letter referred to an unnamed, new service provider the DA’s Office described as having “a greater depth of victim service programs” better tailored to victims’ needs. The office noted Thursday it will announce new partnerships serving the Family Justice Center “in the coming weeks.”
Skidmore said a somewhat more tense environment inside the center recently has prompted the nonprofit to vacate the facilities effective at the end of this week. Open Door Network will offer the same services, she said, at its location at 1921 19th St.
She said hers is the only state-designated rape crisis center in Bakersfield and the only nonprofit offering such services in the valley portion of Kern County.
Thursday’s statement from the DA’s Office noted prosecutors are required to make sure criminal defendants receive a fair trial “and that improper pretrial publicity is controlled and prevented.”
“When persons associated with the prosecution engage in improper pretrial publicity, it risks harming victims by compromising the case and prejudicing a pending trial, and the law requires prosecutors to take action to prevent it,” the DA’s Office stated, using italics for emphasis.
Its Sept. 16 letter to Skidmore came with copies of news reports in which she had commented on court cases pending locally, one related to a man who coached basketball at Cal State Bakersfield who is now in Lerdo jail accused of crimes including human trafficking.
The two other cases regard a child death she was quoted in a local TV news report as calling “probably the worst case” of child abuse in Bakersfield history.
In addition to sending her the letter, the office said it attempted, unsuccessfully, to meet with Skidmore “to ensure that the direction was clear and that such incidents would not happen again.”
Skidmore defended her statements Thursday as promoting awareness and advocating for crime victims, in instances not limited to Scrivner’s child endangerment and firearms violations case.
She denied discussing specific public cases, saying her statements have been vague.
“There’s numerous times that I will engage in public comment around these types of conversation,” she said.
During the Feb. 24 news conference focused on Grove’s Senate Bill 1373, which proposes limiting mental health diversions such as the one offered to Zimmer’s nephew, Skidmore never referred directly to Scrivner, even as one of his sons and the mother of his children stood nearby.
Rather, she said, “second chances should never come at a victim’s expense.”