Yahoo News: L.A. County D.A. Gascón’s own prosecutors begin lining up to challenge him in 2024

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Standing in front of a packed room in Whittier, longtime line prosecutor Jonathan Hatami promised to “restore civility” to the Los Angeles County district attorney’s office and stand up for the crime victims he insists George Gascón has forgotten.

Deputy Dist. Atty. Maria Ramirez — who along with Hatami is one of at least 16 L.A. County prosecutors suing Gascón for retaliation or defamation — says she’ll bring her 30 years of experience to the helm of the nation’s largest prosecutor’s office, hoping to provide a calming presence after what she calls the “chaotic” nature of Gascón’s tenure.

And prosecutor John McKinney — fresh off winning a high-profile conviction in the murder of beloved rapper Nipsey Hussle — promised to work to undo what he sees as the chronic dysfunction in the office, caused by the divide between Gascón and his own staff.

After two years spent trashing Gascón in media appearances, courtroom hallways and lawsuits, many of the progressive prosecutor’s in-house opponents are now taking their complaints to the campaign trail. These three deputy district attorneys have already announced their intentions to deny Gascón a second term in office. Eric Siddall, vice president of the union representing rank-and-file prosecutors, has also said he is “considering” entering the fray.

Several sources have indicated that Nathan Hochman, the Republican nominee for California attorney general who was trounced by Rob Bonta last year, is also seriously mulling a run. One source said Hochman is expected to run as an independent and may announce soon.

The sources spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss the matter candidly. Hochman did not respond to a call seeking comment.

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LATimes.com: Gascón loses retaliation case, a grim omen for the L.A. County D.A.

An L.A. County prosecutor on Monday was awarded $1.5 million in a retaliation lawsuit against Dist. Atty. George Gascón, who faces more than a dozen similar civil claims that could prove equally costly.

Shawn Randolph, the former head of the juvenile division of the district attorney’s office, claimed she was shuttled off to the parole division for pushing back against some of Gascón’s shifts to the handling of criminal cases involving minors, including his blanket ban on trying juveniles as adults.

Randolph’s legal team, led by civil attorneys Greg Smith and Beth Corriea, argued that she believed Gascón’s policies violated laws pertaining to victims’ rights and that limitations on the types of felonies prosecutors could file against teens would lead them to bring charges that did not accurately represent the alleged conduct of certain defendants.

“We have a 30-year veteran complaining that there are ethical violations and Marsy’s Law violations, and you have an administration that wants their policies followed no matter what,” Smith said during his opening statement.

Attorneys from the L.A. County counsel’s office argued that Randolph did not suffer a demotion in rank or a pay cut, and her division change was part of a broad reshuffling of the district attorney’s office that took place early in Gascón’s tenure.

They also contended that Randolph was not engaging in protected speech because her assessment that Gascón’s policies around juveniles were illegal was inaccurate. Although the policies have not been challenged in court, Gascón did amend his stance on trying juveniles as adults after facing heavy criticism for his handling of a few cases in which teens were accused of extreme and violent conduct.

“I’m grateful to have a forum where what’s happening in the district attorney’s office can be heard in a fair manner,” Randolph said outside the courtroom, describing Gascón’s conduct as an “epic failure” in leadership.

A representative for the county counsel’s office declined to comment.

“We are disappointed by the jury’s verdict and stand by our decision to reassign this and other attorneys to new positions within the office,” Tiffiny Blacknell, chief spokeswoman for the district attorney’s office, said in a statement. “As any manager will tell you, moving around personnel in order to improve the level of representation this community receives is absolutely critical to a functioning office.”

Several prosecutors could be seen in the gallery in Department 14 of downtown L.A.’s Stanley Mosk Courthouse; when the verdict was read, one excitedly said, “Finally.” 

The verdict does not bode well for Gascón, who testified at the two-week trial and faces similar lawsuits from prosecutors who say they were reassigned or passed up for promotions after speaking out against his progressive policies. A number of people suing Gascón, including Victoria Adams, his former chief of staff, and Deputy Dist. Atty. Maria Ramirez, testified against him at Randolph’s trial.

Ramirez is the first of what is expected to be a raft of challengers from inside the office who will attempt to unseat Gascón if he seeks reelection next year.

Eric Siddall — vice president of the union representing rank-and-file prosecutors, which has frequently sparred with Gascón — said there were as many as 16 other civil suits pending against the district attorney. 

“We all know what George Gascón thinks about public service. He has called lifelong public servants ‘internal terrorists.’ And he treated them as such. He silenced their voices, he engaged in petty and vindictive acts of retaliation, and rewarded political loyalty instead of competency and professionalism,” Siddall said in a statement. “Far worse, he did so at the expense of public safety. Today, jurors spoke out against Gascón’s incompetence and condemned his illegal machinations.”

 

Although Gascón handily defeated his predecessor, Jackie Lacey, to take office in 2020, his decisions to severely limit the use of sentencing enhancements, eradicate the use of the death penalty and all but end prosecutions of juveniles as adults have been deeply unpopular with rank-and-file prosecutors.

At least one retaliation claim against Gascón — filed by the former head deputy of the Compton branch court, Richard Doyle — has been settled by the county, also for a seven-figure sum.

 

 

Times staff writer Richard Winton contributed to this report.

Recall Campaign Calls on Gascon to Charge Suspects in CHP Ambush with Gun Enhancements

(LOS ANGELES, CA) – This week, a CHP officer was ambushed in East Los Angeles by two suspects when they opened fire on his patrol vehicle as he was driving down the street.   The suspects also fired at Los Angeles Sheriff’s Deputies during the ensuing shootout.

As horrific acts of gun violence and crime are taking place throughout America, the Recall DA George Gascon campaign calls on Los Angeles District Attorney George Gascon to charge all appropriate sentence enhancements in this case and others, including enhancements for using a firearm during the commission of a violent crime.

One of the main focal points of Gascon’s pro-criminal agenda has been the refusal to charge gun, gang, or other sentence enhancements against violent criminals, even as he calls for more to be done to stop gun violence.

“George Gascon is talking out of both sides of his mouth when he calls for stricter gun control laws but refuses to charge gun enhancements.  It is a total cognitive disconnect. Gascon’s failure to prosecute criminals who are committing acts of gun violence to full the extent of the law is in and of itself enough reason for his immediate removal from office.”  – The Recall DA George Gascon campaign.

The recall campaign has collected more than 450,000 signatures as of May 13. To get the recall on the ballot, the campaign must collect 566,857 signatures from registered Los Angeles County voters (10% of the total current registered voters). The deadline for submission to the Registrar is July 6, 2022.

The recall effort continues to build bi-partisan support throughout Los Angeles communities.  Supporters include victims’ rights advocates, current and former law enforcement officials, and Los Angeles County residents.  34 cities (and counting) in Los Angeles County have issued votes of no confidence in Gascon.  98% of Gascon’s own line prosecutors support the recall, along with Los Angeles police and sheriffs.

Visit https://www.recalldageorgegascon.com/recall-petition/ to download or request a recall petition.

 Paid for by the Committee to Support the Recall of District Attorney George Gascon

LA City Controller Candidate Rob Wilcox Endorses Gascón Recall Wilcox Says, “Gascón’s Got to Go!”

Los Angeles, Friday, May 13, 2022 — Calling LA DA George Gascón “a study in arrogance,” LA City Controller candidate Rob Wilcox today threw his support behind the campaign to recall Gascón. “In less than a year and a half, George Gascón has shunned victims and their families, shown contempt for his dedicated deputies’ hard work and judgment, and bent over backwards to accommodate violent criminals,” said Wilcox. “Gascón is a study in arrogance. While crime ricochets throughout our neighborhoods, he has spurned the advice of the dedicated career prosecutors in his office and instead, he has stubbornly doubled down on his failed and short-sighted policies of leniency for criminals. Gascón’s got to go!”

Wilcox, a former Deputy Los Angeles City Controller, is the only candidate running for City Controller to support the Gascón recall effort.

“The top three things that I believe are wrongheaded moves on Gascón’s part are:

  1. forbidding filing sentencing enhancements for violent crimes and use of guns in crimes
  2. ignoring and abandoning victims of crime, both in new cases and at parole hearings
  3. pursuing multiple policies which blatantly ignore state law and propositions passed by voters.”

“As City Controller, I have pledged to find a myriad of ways to make our city so much safer. However, it is a challenging task because the current DA puts the rights and interests of accused and convicted criminals well ahead of those of the general public and victims of crime. We must remove Gascón because his flawed experiment in criminal justice ‘reform’ is endangering every resident of the City of Los Angeles.”

To find out more about Rob please go to https://robforcontroller.com or follow him on social media @Rob4Controller.

Los Angeles DA George Gascon hit with new lawsuit: ‘Required prosecutors to unlawfully hide the truth’

A group of Los Angeles County deputy district attorneys (DDAs) on Monday filed a new lawsuit against the county and District Attorney George Gascon.

Deputy District Attorneys Peter Cagney, Richard Hicks, Mindy Page and Karen Thorp are accusing Gascon’s office of demoting them from their positions for expressing opposition to his resentencing policies.

“Each Plaintiff was removed from their position as a result of disclosing and/or refusing to engage in illegal activities as directed by their supervisors, including, but not limited to, George Gascon, Joseph Iniguez and/or Diana Teran,” the complaint filed in the LA County Superior Court states.

Plaintiffs allege that they were “subjected to adverse employment actions because they disclosed that the resentencing guidelines and directions they received from their supervisors were violations of the current state of the law, and/or refused to carry out unlawful directives and/or orders given to them by their supervisors.”

The Los Angeles Deputy District Attorneys Association (LAADDA), which has filed two lawsuits against Gascon, has argued that several of the DA’s directives violated state law, including one that blocked DDAs from filing strike prior enhancements in new cases and allegedly ordered prosecutors to “dismiss existing charges that [Gascon] personally disagreed with,” as LAADDA Vice President Eric Siddall previously told Fox News Digital.

In 2021, a judge blocked Gason’s policy aiming to block prosecutors from seeking longer sentences for repeat offenders under the state’s Three Strikes Law, which states that defendants convicted of any new felony after being convicted of previous felonies be sentenced “for twice the term otherwise provided for the crime,” or a minimum 25 years if they have two or more prior “strikes,” according to the county. The directive also blocked prosecutors from seeking longer sentences in several other types of cases.

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KCAL: Inside LA County Justice

\Suzie Suh takes a look at LA County’s top prosecutor, District Attorney George Gascón. Winning his seat by more than 53% a year ago, the controversial DA has received votes of “no confidence” by more than 30 cities and almost 98% of prosecutors in his own office support a second recall effort.

South Gate City Council issues vote of no confidence in DA George Gascón

[LOS ANGELES – South Gate is the latest city in Los Angeles County to vote “no confidence” in DA George Gascón’s policies.

The city council voted 4-0-1 Tuesday night, now joining 32 other cities who also voted for “no confidence” in the district attorney.

Some of the cities include San Gabriel, Santa Clarita, Beverly Hills, Pico Rivera, Whitter, La Mirada, Covina, Rosemead, Azusa, Santa Fe Springs, Diamond Bar, Redondo Beach, Arcadia, Manhattan Beach, Temple City, Palos Verdes Estates and Lancaster.

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Statement of Former LAPD Chief Charlie Beck on George Gascón

Los Angeles, February 11, 2022 – Former Los Angeles Police Chief Charlie Beck today released a  statement announcing the rescission of his support for George Gascón as District Attorney of Los Angeles County.
I based my support for the election of District Attorney George Gascón on the hope he would advance public safety in Los Angeles and because of our close personal relationship of over 30 years.  After observing the negative effects of his policies and practices on public safety, I am compelled to rescind that endorsement.  I have spent the majority of my life protecting and serving the people of Los Angeles and the men and women of its police department.  I believe they would be made safer and be better served by a District Attorney that emphasizes the rights of victims and the safety of our police officers.