Former Mariposa County District Attorney Michael McAfee has formally begun legal action against the county, accusing the sheriff and current DA of harassment, racial discrimination and workplace retaliation.
McAfee is joined by the former lead investigator in the DA’s office, Josh Keheley, who is similarly accusing the county of workplace and whistle blower retaliation as well as violating his First Amendment rights.
McAfee is representing himself and Keheley, who is demanding $4 million in damages.
Both men filed claims against the county a day apart last month after filing complaints with the California Civil Rights Department.
The Mariposa County Board of Supervisors voted last week to reject both claims, which means the dispute will likely head to civil court.
The complaints are rife with local political intrigue, as both men allege that Mariposa County Sheriff Jeremy Briese and current DA Walter Wall conspired to play pivotal roles in their respective resignations, which involve different circumstances, but the same cast of characters.
DA’s downfall
In his brief complaint with the California Civil Rights Department, McAfee said he was “illegally forced or coerced” to resign on Aug. 11, 2025, by Wall, who was at the time county counsel, and Joe Lynch, the county’s chief administrative officer.
“They knowingly came into my office and told me I had to resign or they will place me on admin leave immediately,” McAfee writes in the complaint.
As a point of law, the district attorney is an elected position and county officials would have been unable to put him on administrative leave.
In a notable omission, McAfee does not describe the broader context of that conversation.
A few days earlier, a Merced man, Gary Schisnewski, had come forward and told the Mariposa Gazette he sold McAfee the drug methamphetamine and provided text messages between himself and McAfee.
Gazette editor, Greg Little, informed Sheriff Briese of the allegations, and Briese referred the case to the California Attorney General’s Office.
The outcome of that investigation, which involved a Merced drug task force, is unknown.
Discrimination allegations
McAfee argues that trouble between him and Wall began much earlier when he was an assistant district attorney and Wall was his boss.
“I suffered constant race and religious discrimination by the elected District Attorney, who would continuously make inappropriate remarks about my ethnicity and my religious beliefs,” McAfee writes in the complaint.
McAfee claims this included comments about dress, grooming practices, hairstyle and hair texture.
Wall, who declined to comment for this story under the advice of county counsel, has previously described their relationship as cordial.
In fact, Wall recommended McAfee to succeed him as district attorney when Wall resigned in December 2024 to become county counsel.
The Mariposa County Board of Supervisors appointed McAfee as DA in January 2025. He resigned eight months later.
Whistle blower allegations
McAfee’s complaint paints a very different picture of his relationship with Wall.
McAfee said Wall “gave me an ultimatum to hire his wife, and if I didn’t I wouldn’t be DA.”
Wall’s wife was never hired by the office, but it is inferred the job was in the Victim-Witness Program.
Once McAfee became DA, and Wall was county counsel, McAfee writes, “I was expected to do what I was told.”
McAfee goes on to claim he uncovered fraudulent expenses within the Victim-Witness Program. No criminal charges were ever filed, but acrimony about the program led nearly the entire staff to resign.
“When I reported embezzlement and other issues within the office, I was forced to go with the only law enforcement in the county which conspired with the DA to hide the embezzlement my office had uncovered of Cal OES funds,” McAfee writes.
In August 2025, the Mariposa Gazette made a California Public Records Act request with Cal OES, the Governor’s Office of Emergency Services, for any documents related to the misuse of funds in the Mariposa County District Attorney’s Office.
Every two weeks since, Cal OES sends an automated email saying it “continues to review documents for material that is confidential, privileged, or otherwise exempt from disclosure.”
Keheley’s claim
Keheley was the lead investigator in the DA’s office before he said he was forced to resign on Jan. 5 to protect his career and avoid “engineered discipline.”
Keheley, who is a personal friend of McAfee’s, said after McAfee resigned he was retaliated against for his social media activity.
As the Mariposa Gazette previously reported, in September, McAfee began trolling Wall and Briese on Facebook, posting cryptic comments about “those who have used false weights” against him.
McAfee also posted disparaging images of the sheriff and Wall, including a cartoon image of the two men in prison stripes.
Keheley Facebook “liked” the posts.
In retaliation, Keheley claims Wall said Briese called and “directed that he be terminated, connected to a social media ‘like’ incident.”
Keheley said Wall went to Mariposa County Human Resources and said, “I have to fire Josh.”
Retaliation allegations
On Sept. 9, Wall changed Keheley’s job title from “chief” investigator to “lead” investigator, without notifying him, according to the complaint.
On Sept. 10, the Mariposa County Sheriff’s Office initiated a new policy, known as Interim Directive 25-01, that restricted access to the sheriff’s office facilities and dispatch support functions for investigators in the DA’s office, as the Gazette has previously reported.
“When investigators attempted to access the Detective Unit, they were stopped and told they were banned under the directive,” Keheley writes.
Keheley claims it was retaliatory and created “operational risk and set-up-to-fail conditions.”
“Tons of duties removed,” Keheley writes as he was shut out of a California law enforcement database, know as CLETS, that provides access to criminal records.
Sheriff Briese did not respond to a request for comment on the case. County counsel has advised him not to speak publicly about the matter.
Keheley filed a complaint against Wall and Briese with Mariposa County Human Resources alleging a hostile work environment.
During a human resources investigation, Keheley said Wall continued to try and intimidate him.
“We will throw all the chips on the table and see who comes out on top,” Keheley quotes Wall as saying.
Supervisor Kiser texts
The Keheley complaint also names Mariposa County Supervisor Jenni Kiser, and refers to text messages between Kiser and the Mariposa Gazette obtained through an anonymous California Public Records request from ‘Mariposa Watchdog 2025.’
Keheley accuses Kiser of providing a statement to the newspaper after DA McAfee’s resignation. In fact, Kiser provided no such statement.
Keheley said Kiser “commended the paper when an article was written that included Mr. Keheley and his family.”
That is an apparent reference to an article last October on McAfee’s social media posts. The story mentioned the posts were liked by both Keheley, his wife, Kristina, who is director of the Mariposa County Health and Human Services
Agency (HHSA), and her father, former Mariposa County Sheriff Jim Allen.
Kiser’s text to Gazette editor Greg Little on the day the newspaper was published was, “Gazette for this win this week!” She then texts, “The article on Happy Goat is good :-).”
Reporter knows things
Finally, Keheley’s complaint notes that this reporter sought to contact him in January before publishing a story regarding his resignation and “workplace retaliation case.”
Keheley writes, “confirming that the Gazette possessed highly specific information regarding his protected activity and claims.”
Contacting people who are the subject of stories in advance and giving them an opportunity to comment is considered a standard journalism practice.
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