Attorney general rejects charges against Stanislaus detective

A Stanislaus County Sheriff’s Department detective arrested earlier this month on a domestic violence charge will not be prosecuted.

The case against Francisco “Frank” Soria, 40, was rejected “on insufficient evidence,” Kristin Ford, press secretary for the office of California Attorney General Kamala Harris, said in an email.

Soria, who lives in Ceres, was arrested at the Ceres Police Department on Jan. 5 and booked at the Stanislaus County Jail on suspicion of domestic violence.

“We handle this case just like any other domestic violence case, and we made an arrest on him,” acting Ceres Police Chief Brent Smith said after Soria’s arrest.

Stanislaus County District Attorney Birgit Fladager referred questions about the case to the Attorney General’s Office.

It was not clear why the case was referred to the state office. Fladager said only that there are “several reasons” her office might declare a conflict of interest in a case.

Sheriff Adam Christianson said in an email Wednesday that Soria “will be returned to full duty status without delay.”

It was not clear what Soria’s status was after his arrest and prior to the attorney general’s decision; Christianson said at the time that he could not discuss the issue because it was a personnel matter.

Christianson called Soria’s arrest by Ceres police “unnecessary and unwarranted.” He said his office asked Smith to have the District Attorney’s Office review the case “before making an arrest and booking our detective into the Stanislaus County Jail.”

“Knowing there was insufficient evidence to support a charge of felony domestic violence, coupled with the fact that a judge refused to issue an emergency protective order, we were very disappointed in the course of action taken by the Ceres Police Department, especially since the incident they investigated occurred over one year ago,” Christianson said.

Smith could not be reached for comment Wednesday.

This story was originally published January 28, 2015 at 2:25 PM with the headline "Attorney general rejects charges against Stanislaus detective."