Art. 680 Grounds for recusation of district attorney

This rule explains when a district attorney cannot handle a criminal case because it would be unfair for them to stay involved. If any of these situations come up, the district attorney has to step aside and let someone else take over the case.

The first reason is if the district attorney has a personal stake in the outcome that would get in the way of fair treatment. For example, if they would personally gain or lose something based on how the case turns out, they should not be the one making decisions about it.

The second reason is family ties. If the district attorney is closely related to the accused person, the victim, their spouses, or someone being investigated by a grand jury, they need to step back. The relationship has to be close enough that it could actually affect how they do their job, not just any distant family connection.

The third reason is a conflict from the past. If the district attorney used to represent the defendant as their defense lawyer before becoming a prosecutor, they cannot now prosecute that same person. This makes sense because they may know private information from representing that person earlier, and using that against them later would not be fair.