Santa Clara Superior Court Judge Kelly Paul has ordered lead prosecutor Jeff Rosen to step down from the case against five Stanford pro-Palestine protesters who barricaded themselves inside the University president’s office in June 2024.
Paul recused Rosen and the entirety of his office from retrying the case, which ended in a mistrial on Feb. 14 after a hung jury. The move comes after defense attorneys raised concerns about Rosen’s conflict-of-interest, which included placing the case on a campaign website titled “fighting antisemitism” and using it in a December fundraising email blast.
The website also includes several videos of Rosen with Jewish organizations, including a speech he gave at San Jose Hillel where he claimed “anti-Semitism is anti-American and un-American.” Paul cited the video in her decision, noting that the lawsuit is “not a hate-crime case,” and should not be characterized as a fight against antisemitism. Paul also ordered California Attorney General Rob Bonta to take over the case and lead the retrial on May 11. Bonta can appeal Paul’s decision.
“The court agrees with the defense that the videos and articles posted on the fighting antisemitism campaign page must be considered together as a whole,” Paul said, according to KQED.
The Daily has reached out to Rosen’s team for comment.
This update is the latest chapter in a three-year trial that began when 12 individuals barricaded themselves inside the Stanford president’s office. Three have pleaded guilty to misdemeanors while three others took alternative paths to avoid criminal conviction, leaving five on trial. After a motion by the defense on April 21, Paul ordered Rosen to turn over his fundraising records.
“I’m grateful that in the face of a retaliatory and corrupt district attorney’s office, Judge Paul had that bravery to rule with the facts of the case,” defendant Gérman Gonzalez ’27 said to The Daily. He criticized Rosen for “wasting county resources to attempt to build his political career.” Gonzalez hopes Bonta will drop the prosecution, but said the defendants will keep “our focus on Palestine.”
In a joint statement following the recusal, the Jewish Community Relations Council Bay Area (JCRC) and Jewish Silicon Valley (JSV) accused Paul of “creating [a] double standard for Jewish public officials.” The organizations described the defense as carrying out a “smear campaign” against Rosen, and said that the decision reinforces “longstanding antisemitic prejudices.”
The Daily has reached out to the Superior Court of Santa Clara County, JCRC and JSV for comment.
Rosen is currently running for reelection this fall. Daniel Chung, Rosen’s opponent and his former deputy prosecutor, released a video statement on his Instagram, describing the recusal as a “humiliating loss.”
“This exemplifies the undermining of integrity, competence, and compassion under [District Attorney] Rosen for the last 16 years,” Chung said in the video. He described the trial as a “waste of time and money” and urged district prosecutors to instead focus their efforts on violent and repeat offenders.