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Poll Shows A Majority Of Contra Costa Residents Want DA To Resign

MARTINEZ (CBS SF) -- Troubles continued to mount for Conta Costa County's embattled District Attorney Tuesday as an exclusive new KPIX 5 poll showed a whopping 70 percent of respondents saying he should resign.

A civil grand jury and prosecutors in DA Mark Peterson's own office have already called for his resignation.

Last week, Peterson was officially indicted for misappropriating $66,000 from his campaign, spending the money on travel, hotels, restaurants, and movie tickets.

On Friday, the board members of the District Attorneys' Association voted unanimously to recommend a vote of no confidence.

And then on Monday, a large majority of the membership, which includes a total of 88 attorneys, issued a vote of no confidence against their own boss.

The only time Peterson has spoken about the charges was back in December, when he wrote he was "humbled and embarrassed" and that it was a loan to himself that he always intended to repay.

The exclusive poll showed a large majority of Contra Costa residents feel the same way.

Of the people KPIX 5 polled who had actually been following the recent developments, 45 percent said Peterson broke the law.

35 percent said he made some errors, but committed no crime, while 15 percent say the DA did nothing wrong.

When asked what they think Peterson should do, a whopping 70 percent said he should resign.

Only 22 percent said he should remain in office.

Petersen did not speak on camera, but he did release a written statement that read: "Although this was a poll of only 800 or 316 individuals in a county of 1.1 million residents, i respect everybody's opinion and can assure everyone that our office is working hard to serve all the citizens of this county."

The staff here say Peterson has been in meetings all afternoon and was unavailable for further comment.

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