---
category: Law Enforcement & Legal
summary: White revealed that the original CHP report on the 'Queen's accident' was
  sent to the State Attorney General's office (John Van de Kamp), who told his assistant
  to 'discard' it.
tags:
- Person
- Lawyer
- Judge
- LawEnforcement
---

[James White](/people/james-white/) was an Assistant U.S. Attorney in Fresno. He ordered [Dr. Arthur Dahlem](/people/dr-arthur-dahlem/)'s files seized to prove [Roderick Sinclair](/people/roderick-sinclair/)'s alleged drug use in connection with the "[Queen's Accident](/events/queens-accident/)." However, U.S. District Court Judge [Robert E. Coyle](/people/robert-e-coyle/) ordered White to "drop the criminal investigation," stating Sinclair's drug problem was not relevant and drug records could not be used in court.[^1]

White revealed that the original [CHP](/organizations/california-highway-patrol/) report on the "[Queen's Accident](/events/queens-accident/)" was sent to the State Attorney General's office ([John Van de Kamp](/people/john-van-de-kamp/)), who told his assistant to "discard" it. [Bruce Eckerson](/people/bruce-eckerson/), the Mariposa County District Attorney, was then appointed to take charge of the investigation and submit a new report. White noted that all of the "crack M.A.I.T.S. team" [CHP](/organizations/california-highway-patrol/) officers involved in the original investigation either resigned or were transferred or fired. The [CHP](/organizations/california-highway-patrol/) Commander and Deputy Commander who supervised the M.A.I.T.S. investigation also resigned, as did White himself after the cover-up.[^1]

Before his resignation, White quietly filed the transcripts of the trial and an affidavit listing the "hallucinatory" drugs Sinclair had used prior to the accident with [Stephan LaPalm](/people/stephan-lapalm/) of the U.S. Attorney's office in Sacramento.[^1]

---

[^1]: Seymour, Cheri. *The Last Circle: Danny Casolaro’s Investigation into the Octopus and the PROMIS Software Scandal*. First Edition. TrineDay, 2010.