DA Accused of Wielding Ice Pick Faces Sex Charges
Updated 1:23 PM PST, Fri, Nov 21, 2008
He prosecutes sex crimes in Contra Costa County, now a District Attorney is facing charges that he raped a colleague.
Prosecutors say Deputy District Attorney Michael Gressett, 51, of Martinez sexually assaulted a fellow deputy district attorney in his Martinez home in early May.
The charges include suspicion of rape, oral copulation, sodomy and penetration with a foreign object and making criminal threats for allegedly threatening to kill the alleged victim.
Prosecutors also say he used a gun and an ice pick in the attack and tied and bound his victim. Those charges come with multiple enhancements that mean Gressett could face life in prison.
Gressett's lawyer claims the accuser waited until now to report the alleged assault because she knew the text messages they sent to each other, that would have revealed the extent of their relationship, would have been deleted from the system by now.
The case is now being handled by the State Attorney General's office to avoid a conflict of interest.
Gressett is one of the top sex crimes prosecutors in the county and has been an attorney since 1987.
He said that after so many years of prosecuting "bad guys and fighting to get ... the truth out" it was extremely difficult and painful to be on the other side. He also says the accusations are false and is eager to clear his name. He even went on to say this process has shaken his faith in the criminal justice system.
Gressett was arrested October 2 and remains out of custody on $1 million bail. He was ordered to stay away from the alleged victim.
He will be back in court in January.
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First Published: Nov 21, 2008 11:30 AM PST
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