willrichmond

Will Richmond served as the Alpine DA and worked as an environmental attorney throughout California, including Mono County.

On Monday, Inyo District Attorney Art Maillet walked into his assistant’s office and handed him a letter of termination.  This, according to Assistant DA Will Richmond.

When contacted by Sierra Wave, Richmond confirmed that he was terminated, and that Maillet handed him the notice and said he “had no time to talk about it.”  Richmond came to the Inyo DA’s office about a year ago after the former assistant was placed on administrative leave and then retired after a controversy over the release of documents on his boss’s political opponent.

Richmond said he had no notice or warning of the termination, and he said he had no information on what was on the DA’s mind.  Richmond said he had come to Inyo to work in the DA’s office to “help a friend, Art Maillet, and to do some good.  It was not for financial reasons,” said Richmond.

Asked to explain why he thought he was terminated, Richmond did say, “There was an obvious opinion on how to manage the office and how to be an effective prosecutor. I cut it a little thin for his tolerance,” said Richmond. Before Richmond arrived, citizen comments and confidential remarks from the legal community pointed to a “dysfunctional” DA’s office with serious human relations problems among staff.  Mr. Maillet has refused to speak with local media and so we could not publish a response from him to these issues.

Richmond is the former District Attorney for Alpine County and worked as a government-funded environmental attorney.  He had worked closely with Mono DA George Booth on matters involving the Owens Gorge and the dispute with DWP.

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