A Marin County criminal case that began with a damaged laptop has now become a federal civil-rights fight, with an East Bay defense attorney accusing prosecutors of putting him through the legal wringer three times over the same alleged $3,000 witness payment. Tyler Smith says the Marin County District Attorney’s Office pursued felony charges against him even after judges found the evidence or probable cause lacking. The allegations are laid out in a new federal lawsuit filed Wednesday.
The San Francisco Chronicle reported that the suit names District Attorney Lori Frugoli, Chief Deputy District Attorney Dori Ahana, Deputy District Attorney Roopa Khrisna and investigator Andre Longtin-Horton as defendants. Smith alleges they fabricated evidence, maliciously prosecuted him and retaliated after the office’s misdemeanor case against his client began to unravel. The Marin County District Attorney’s Office did not respond to requests for comment cited in the report.
The Dispute Started With A Damaged Laptop
Smith’s lawsuit centers on a 2023 client accused of smashing his girlfriend’s laptop after discovering her OnlyFans account. The complaint says the alleged victim wanted repayment, not a prosecution, and that Smith proposed a civil compromise after she agreed to accept $3,000 for the laptop and moving expenses. That put the defense lawyer and prosecutors on opposite sides of a narrow but consequential question: whether a low-level property case tied to a former domestic relationship could be resolved through repayment.
California’s civil compromise law provides that certain misdemeanors with a civil remedy may be compromised with court approval, while excluding offenses committed against a family or household member, among other exceptions, under Penal Code Section 1377. Smith says his client was not charged with domestic violence and argues the DA’s interpretation of that exception did not justify turning the disagreement into a case against him.
Prosecutors Framed The Payment As Witness Interference
According to the complaint, prosecutors said Smith paid the woman to stop cooperating and help move her out of state, then charged him on Dec. 6, 2023, with bribery and witness dissuasion. A deputy prosecutor later wrote internally that Smith had made the victim unavailable for trial and called his conduct reprehensible, the suit says. Smith’s attorneys counter that the woman signed the agreement with her own lawyer and agreed to testify if subpoenaed.
Three Filings, Three Trips Back To Court
As detailed by the San Francisco Chronicle, a judge dismissed the original case for lack of evidence. The DA’s office filed another complaint on Sept. 30, 2024, adding charges of witness dissuasion and inducing false testimony, but a Marin judge dismissed that case as well after repeatedly questioning the evidence and probable cause. Prosecutors then sought to reinstate the complaint, but a judge rejected that effort too.
The Marin DA’s public leadership page lists Frugoli as district attorney and Ahana as a chief deputy. Smith, who is best known for his defense work in the Ghost Ship trial, says the prosecution pushed him away from criminal law and disrupted his career.
What The Federal Lawsuit Could Put On Trial
The complaint accuses the officials of malicious prosecution, fabrication of evidence and retaliation, but filing a lawsuit is not a finding that any defendant is liable. The case will now move through the civil process, where the allegations, the dismissed criminal cases and the prosecutors’ decisions to continue pursuing the matter will be tested. Smith’s attorney says the lawsuit seeks both compensation for the upheaval in Smith’s life and a warning against using prosecutorial power to punish defense lawyers.
