Is D.A. wannabe Alan Jackson another Herman Cain?

"I think I just shot somebody"

The chatter among Los Angeles political observers lately is that Phil Spector prosecutor and District Attorney hopeful Alan Jackson is on his way to running one of the dumbest campaigns in recent memory.

On Saturday December 3, 2011, the L.A. Daily News reported that Jackson was put on notice that he had infringed the intellectual property of Miami photographer Scott Redinger-Lebolt, when he used a photograph owned by Redinger-Lebolt of Los Angeles City Attorney Carmen Trutanich, without the photographer's permission.

After he was caught red-handed, Jackson took a page out of the Herman Cain playbook by employing Cain's strategy to blame everyone but himself. As one keen political observer noted, (not connected to any campaign for D.A.), "Rather than (Cain) take responsibility for carrying on numerous affairs, his camp tried to divert attention by blaming fellow Republican Presidential candidate, Texas Governor Rick Perry.  It didn't work for Herman Cain and it won't work for Alan Jackson."

What makes this story peculiar is that it appears the Daily News was tipped off to this potentially tortuous conduct by none other than Jackson's chipper campaign manager, John Thomas, a young, staunch Republican campaign operative who's track record includes quarterbacking former right-wing radio host Kevin James floundering campaign for L.A. Mayor, and Sunder Ramani's ill-fated campaign for a Los Angeles based Assembly seat.

Essentially, Jackson's campaign was highlighting the he was flagrantly misappropriating intellectual property while infringing the rights of a struggling artist trying to make a living. To add insult to injury, other photographers, not related to Redinger-Lebolt or his lawyer, famed Pasadena copyright litigation specialist, Nicholas Connon, are now claiming that Jackson stole their copyrighted work as well.

Attorneys for Warner Brothers Pictures, the owner of "The Hangover" property are also said to be exploring their legal options against Jackson. One high-ranking motion picture executive at Warner Brothers noted, "It's astounding that someone seeking a top law enforcement office in Los Angeles County would attempt to build their campaign on ripping-off copyrighted content from creative artists and businesses who make their living licensing such works."

Jackson has reportedly only raised an anemic $218,000 so far, less than half of what Trutanich has raised for his exploratory committee.  What has political veterans shaking their heads is that Jackson seems to have foolishly wasted most of those funds on innocuous video clips, built on the apparently unauthorized use of copyrighted materials.

The way this is going, Jackson could find himself spending his remaining dwindling campaign resources fighting numerous lawsuits for copyright infringement which carry a penalty of $150,000 per each willful copyright violation.

What's troubling here is that Alan Jackson seems to have a pattern of playing fast and loose with the law.  On August 10, 2010, Jackson was reprimanded by Department 35 Judge Craig Richman after attempting an unethical end-run around the court in a search warrant matter. Judge Richman stated in open court, "I have never, in my entire legal career - and certainly in my judicial career -- felt so slimed by, frankly, the very office I grew up in. I was raised to believe the District Attorney's office stands for truth and Justice and the Constitution and should not be afraid of the truth. I am beginning to wonder if that was ever the case, or it's just changed since I left the D.A.'s office." At the hearing, Jackson tried to blame colleagues and underlings for what was obviously his own sleazy tactics. The Judge wasn't buying it.

"Bragging about stealing other people's work is not considered an intelligent way to launch a campaign." One observer noted, "Who starts a campaign by shooting themselves in the foot, while blowing all their campaign donations, and then try to blame others for these rookie mistakes?"

It raises questions about whether Jackson is suitable to lead the largest prosecutorial office in the country. A source close to the Jackson campaign commented, "He obviously got caught red-handed and thought the best way to divert attention away from this blunder was to falsely accuse others. If he thought he was innocent, he would've intelligently responded to the photographer's inquiry with points and authorities. Talk about consciousness of guilt. Maybe this guy is not ready for prime-time."