Hawes

Defendant was the elected District Attorney of Shasta County. In an accusation presented by the grand jury on July 11, 1980, he was charged with seven counts of wilful and corrupt misconduct in office. A jury found defendant guilty of of one count of wilful misconduct, acquitted him of three other counts and was unable to arrive at a verdict on the remaining three counts. Defendant appeals from the judgment removing him from office as district attorney. The People’s motion to dismiss the appeal will be denied and we shall reverse the judgment of removal.

I.

The People have moved to dismiss the appeal on the ground appeal from a judgment of removal (Gov. Code, § 3072) is not authorized by statute.

The statutory provisions governing removal of local officers other than by impeachment, i.e., by proceedings on an accusation, are found in Government Code sections 3060-3074 (all further statutory references are to sections of the Government Code unless otherwise indicated). These provisions originated in the Statutes of 1851 (Stats. 1851, Second Ex. Sess., ch. 29, §§ 70-83, pp. 219-220) and were later incorporated in the Penal Code when it was enacted in 1872 (former Pen.…