It isn't every day that Los Angeles criminal defense attorneys come across a sex crime where a prosecutor is the one being charged with the crime. Charges of rape against a prosecutor at a sex crimes unit in San Francisco may have ended with a dismissal, but it has spotlighted an allegedly sexually charged-environment at the unit.

The case involved Contra Costa County Deputy Dist. Atty. Michael Gressett, who was accused by a junior prosecutor at the sex crimes unit of rape. The junior prosecutor told police that Gressett had raped her during a lunch hour. The victim did not deny that she had been in favor of a sexual encounter, nor that they had had sex before, but she was not interested in having the kind of rough sex that he wanted. Gressett did not deny that the two had sex, but claimed that it was consensual.

The case soon began to unravel, however. The District Attorney’s Office released a registered sex offender in return for testimony by his girlfriend, a prostitute, that she had paid sex with Gressett. That testimony was later recanted. Charges against Gressett were ultimately dismissed.

However, court records and documents related to the case paint an unflattering portrait of the San Francisco sex crimes unit to Los Angeles criminal defense lawyers. Prosecutors allegedly prided themselves on being members of an informal sex club that involved plenty of sexual banter and discussion of sexual activities. According to court records, after-work socializing for prosecutors at the crimes unit involved a coed slumber party. The alleged victim in this case was a member of the club, and participated in these activities.