Santa Clara County DA’s embattled investigator will retire

A high-ranking official in the Santa Clara County District Attorney’s Office under fire for alleged discriminatory remarks against coworkers is set to retire in December.

Moises Reyes, chief of the DA’s Bureau of Investigations, will retire on Dec. 19, a spokesperson for the DA’s office told San José Spotlight. This follows more than a dozen claims of inappropriate workplace remarks lodged against Reyes last year about his conduct in 2021 and 2022. An investigation by the county’s Equal Opportunity Division concluded five of those claim were more likely than not to be true and in violation of county policies. The investigation found the remaining nine claims to likely not be violations of county policies.

Reyes made inappropriate comments about women, Black people and transgender people, according to a July report by NBC Bay Area, revealing the investigation.

It’s unclear whether Reyes’ planned departure from the DA’s office is connected to the complaints against him and the investigation into his conduct. The DA’s office declined to comment, citing privacy requirements for personnel issues. Reyes didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.

Reyes’ retirement also comes as Rev. Jethroe Moore II, president of the San Jose/Silicon Valley NAACP, called for District Attorney Jeff Rosen to fire Reyes.

In a letter sent to Rosen on Sept. 20 obtained by San José Spotlight, Moore said he is disappointed by what he calls Rosen’s “lack of action” against Reyes. It was his second letter to Rosen, following one in July that Rosen responded to—which Moore said fell short of addressing the key issue.

Moore told San José Spotlight that Rosen allowing Reyes to continue to hold authority while having sustained complaints of discrimination against him undermines the DA’s commitment to diversity, equity and inclusion.

“Why is (Reyes) still working there? How many cases has he investigated or took part in that we may need to call into question?” Moore said.

Moore noted Rosen even took his office off X, formerly Twitter, late last year over issues of hate speech.

“He called for all the district attorneys across this nation to drop out of Twitter because of the hate on Twitter,” Moore said. “Now hate is in his office, where is the same vigor, where is the same energy?”

In Rosen’s response to Moore’s initial letter in July, Rosen wrote he is “legally barred from discussing disciplinary matters in public.”

The letter also lists what Rosen’s office has done to “help address the systemic racism that plagues our society and our criminal justice system,” and to support diversity, equity and inclusion programs.

The letter includes a statement Rosen previously shared with the media in response to inquiries about Reyes.

“The District Attorney’s Office is a workplace of diversity, fairness, and mutual respect among its 650 employees,” Rosen said in the statement. “I personally take very seriously allegations of behavior that runs counter to those values, and I handle them. I don’t demand perfection. I demand professionalism and pride in being a public servant for the people of Santa Clara County. We are all accountable.”

It’s still unknown if Rosen’s office opened its own investigation of Reyes’ conduct, if Reyes faced discipline or if he appealed any potential discipline.

Moore said he is concerned about employees subjected to Reyes’ discrimination who still have to work under him.

Moore told Rosen in his September letter that Reyes keeping his job “raises doubts about the trustworthiness of your office when it comes to addressing hate crimes against the Black community,” and perpetuates a hateful and discriminatory environment.

“There seems to be a lack of energy on some matters, and a bunch of energy on other matters. I’m just asking for fair and equal treatment of those employees in that building who have been subjected to this man,” Moore told San José Spotlight. “I’m asking for equity across the board. Don’t talk it, walk it.”

Contact Joseph Geha at [email protected] or @josephgeha16 on X, formerly known as Twitter.