Antelope Valley Press: Pressure mounts against LA’s DA

PALMDALE — Frustrated with the policies of Los Angeles County District Attorney Gascón, the Palmdale City Council is investigating filing criminal charges in some misdemeanor cases itself through the city attorney, and is considering a vote of no confidence in Gascón.

Gascón was elected in November and immediately set in motion sweeping criminal justice reforms, including a halt to seeking harsher sentences through special enhancements and the elimination of cash bail for any misdemeanor.

Additionally, he directed deputy district attorneys to reject filing 13 types of charges, with some exceptions, including items such as trespassing, driving without a valid or a suspended license, disturbing the peace, resisting arrest, criminal threats, public intoxication, minor in possession of alcohol, loitering, drug possession and under the influence of control substances, according to City Attorney Christopher Beck.

 

Beck reported Tuesday that through May this year, the District Attorney’s office has rejected 1,208 cases for filing, a rate of 59%. This compares to the previous two years, prior to Gascón’s election, in which the office rejected 13% and 21%, respectively.

“It is just astonishing to me that we’ve reached this point,” Councilmember Richard Loa said. “All of those are offenses that affect human beings and affect our residents.”

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San Dimas Community Post: San Dimas Casts Vote of No Confidence in LA District Attorney

San Dimas joined dozens of other cities in Los Angeles County, casting a vote of no confidence in Los Angeles County District Attorney George Gascón and signaling disapproval for Gascón’s policies.

Mayor Emmett Badar ended a June 22 city council meeting discussion about the DA’s policies and impacts with a motion for a vote of no confidence.

“We’re a law enforcement, or a law-abiding, community that just wants fairness to both the residents and to the victims,” Badar said during the meeting.

The motion passed unanimously, with city staff being tasked to draft a strongly-worded resolution that encompasses concerns brought forward by city officials and local residents. The council approved the formal resolution and vote of no confidence in a 4-0 vote on July 13. Councilmember Eric Weber was absent from the meeting.

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Whittier Daily News: Man sentenced to death for triple murder in Downey; judge refuses to allow DA’s statement

A parolee was sentenced to death Thursday for murdering three people and trying to kill two others in Downey while posing as a prospective buyer of a Chevrolet Camaro.

Jade Douglas Harris — who was prosecuted under prior Los Angeles County District Attorney Jackie Lacey’s administration — is the first person to be sentenced to death during current District Attorney George Gascon’s administration.

Superior Court Judge Raul A. Sahagun refused to allow a statement to be read in court on behalf of Gascon, according to Deputy District Attorney John McKinney. The county’s top prosecutor reiterated in that statement that he “does not believe the death penalty is an appropriate punishment in any case” and asked that the court consider Gascon’s policy on the death penalty “in exercising its sentencing discretion in this matter.”

The judge, who had earlier denied a motion for a new trial, also rejected an automatic motion to reduce the jury’s March 2020 recommendation of death for the 39-year-old defendant to life in prison without the possibility of parole.

In a Tweet posted shortly before the sentencing, McKinney called it “one of the most horrendous crimes I ever prosecuted.”

“If he committed the same murders today, DA Gascon wouldn’t charge special circs (circumstances) or gun allegations and Harris would be eligible for parole after just 20 years,” the prosecutor wrote in his Tweet.

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Fox 11: Recorded phone conversation alleges prosecutor from DA’s office is studying convicted murderer’s case

In a recorded phone call from the courthouse lockup in the Antelope Valley, a convicted killer receives good news from his mother.

“Hi Mijo, you know who that was? Andrew, you know who that was? That’s freaking Gascón’s — that’s Gascón’s special advisor. Oh, my God!”

Bertha Cachu was overjoyed to share the news with her son Andrew Cachu, a documented gang member who was convicted of killing 41-year-old Louis Amela outside of a Palmdale restaurant in 2015.

Daily News: ‘God has your back,’ mom tells son after DA moves to cut decades from killer’s prison term

Bertha Cachu could barely contain her joy on the morning of May 10 as she spoke with her son by phone. Both had just attended his hearing at the Michael Antonovich Antelope Valley Courthouse, and Andrew Cachu was calling her from the courthouse lockup.

His mother quickly relayed some exciting news to Cachu, a gang member who was just two months shy of his 18th birthday in March 2015 when he shot 41-year-old Louis Amela twice in the back outside a Palmdale restaurant, killing him. Because of the gravity of the crime, Cachu was tried in adult court and, in 2017, sentenced to 50 years to life in prison.

Now, his mother told him, a powerful ally had agreed to intervene on his behalf. That confidante was Alisa Blair, a special assistant to Los Angeles County District Attorney George Gascón, whose sweeping social justice directives have turned Southern California jurisprudence on its head.

“Girl, I got you.”

“That’s Gascón’s special adviser,” Bertha Cachu explained to her son in a 20-minute recorded phone call obtained by the Southern California News Group. “Oh my God! She’s going to be coming in your case. Did you hear that, man? She’s good. She’s the one I’ve been emailing back and forth.

“You need to be grateful that God has your back, Andrew. God has your back.”

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San Gabriel Valley Tribune: West Covina sends letter to D.A. criticizing changes he’s made

In a letter sent to Los Angeles County District Attorney George Gascón on Wednesday, June 23, the West Covina City Council criticizes three of his new directives and calls for their rescission.

Mayor Letty Lopez-Viado, who drafted the letter, said she opposes controversial moves Gascón has made since taking office in December.

Specifically, the letter takes issue with three specific directives from Gascón. The first is the reticence to decline or dismiss numerous misdemeanor cases, such as trespassing, disturbing the peace and drinking in public.

The second is the move to eliminate several sentencing options, including special allegations and sentencing enhancements for those convicted of crimes. The third is the promise to provide greater oversight into how police investigate and resolved cases.

“We’re demanding justice,” Lopez-Viado said at the June 15 City Council meeting. “We’re pretty much saying his directives suck.”

The City Council approved the letter at its June 15 meeting, voting 4-1, with Councilman Brian Tabatabai opposed.

The District Attorney’s office responded to the letter, stating that Gascon is focused on enhancing public safety, increasing equity, expanding victim services and strengthening police accountability.

“The policies implemented over the last six months go to furthering these core principles for all Angelenos, including West Covina residents,” Alex Bastian, special adviser to Gascón said in an emailed statement. “After reading the mayor’s public statements and letter, it appears to me that she is misinformed.

“Unfortunately, misinformation has been spreading significantly in recent months. We will continue to work professionally and collaboratively with all of our city and county partners, including our partners in West Covina.”

Lopez-Viado said the West Covina Police Department sent 154 misdemeanor cases filed between January and April to the District Attorney’s Office and all of them were denied to be prosecuted. But after the Police Department contacted the District Attorney’s Office, some of those cases will be reviewed and re-evaluated.

It was a step in the right direction, Lopez-Viado said. “I’m happy to see that. I am looking forward to see exactly what’s going to happen.”

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Daily News: Critics assail purpose, makeup of DA’s use-of-force panel

Los Angeles County District Attorney George Gascón is drawing fire for both the makeup and mission of his newly formed panel to reexamine deadly use-of-force incidents by police.

Chief among his critics is former Los Angeles County District Attorney Steve Cooley, who claims Gascon “is looking to give himself cover on what he was already planning on doing, and that is filing (criminal charges) against law enforcement officers.”

“He is hell-bent on putting some law enforcement filing notches on his belt,” said Cooley, who has led rallies to recall the progressive district attorney.

“These use-of-force incidents were duly investigated by the agency (where they occurred) and independently by the District Attorney’s Office, and decisions were based on fact and law,” Cooley said. “Now Gascón wants to sit in judgment against officers who have already been cleared by dedicated, professional prosecutors. He wants a different result that is consistent with his bizarre ideology.”

The Los Angeles Police Protective League, which represents nearly 10,000 rank-and-file LAPD officers, had equally harsh words for Gascon’s 16-member Factual Analysis Citizen Consulting Team, which is made up of community members, activists, scholars, civil rights attorneys and former police chiefs. Gascon says the panel is necessary “in order to restore trust and move forward as a community.”

“If George Gascón was truly interested in taking an honest and impartial look at previous police use of force cases, he would not have stacked this panel with anti-police activists, individuals who make money by suing police departments and organizations who openly state they want to abolish the police,” the union’s board of directors said in a statement. “That’s not seeking justice, that’s pander politics at its worst.

“He’d make our community safer if he spent some time reviewing the cases of repeat offenders that he’s given a free pass to or treated with kid gloves.”

Complete article.

Metropolitan News-Enterprise: Judge Asked to Boot DA’s Special Assistant From Cas

Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Brian C. Yep will be asked this morning to recuse a prosecutor who, according to a motion on behalf of the family of a murdered man, is a former deputy public defender who, after becoming a special assistant to District Attorney George Gascón, continues to fight for the interests of criminal defendants.

The recusal is sought in a case where, at stake, is whether a man who committed a gang-related slaying two months shy of his 18th birthday will remain in prison, potentially for life, or be freed in less than a year—with the prosecutor favoring his release.

Attorney Kathleen Cady of the Dordulian Law Group in Glendale is seeking the banishment of Deputy District Attorney Alisa Blair from the case of People v. Andrew Cachu. In her motion, filed Friday, Cady argues that while the recusal of prosecutors should be a rare occurrence, Blair, through “sustained efforts and actions…, both surreptitiously and overtly” has “effectively abandoned the prosecutorial duty to seek justice and to avoid the appearance of impropriety,” necessitating her ouster.

Potential Life Sentence

Family members of Louis Amela, who was fatally shot in the back by one of two bullets fired at him on March 31, 2015, by Cachu—at the age of 17 years and 10 months—want the court to keep in place Cachu’s 2017 sentence by Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Kathleen Blanchard of 50 years to life in state prison. Under a law not in effect at the time of the procceedings before Blanchard (but retroactive to cases not yet final), that outcome would require a finding by Yep pursuant to Welfare & Institutions Code §707 that a transfer of the case from Juvenile Court to the adult court was appropriate.

However, Blair has told Yep: “We will not be conducting a transfer hearing at any point.”

Blair has boasted, according to the motion, of being the principal architect of a special directive issued by Gascón on Dec. 7, his first day in office—along with several other decrees (the enforcement of some having since been preliminarily enjoined). Gascón’s “youth policy” says, in part:

“The office will immediately END the practice of sending youth to the adult court system. All pending motions to transfer youth to adult court jurisdiction shall be withdrawn at the soonest available court date, including agreeing to defense counsel’s request to advance.”

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LA Times: Judge says sweeping L.A. criminal justice reform measure is unconstitutional

A Los Angeles County Superior Court judge has declared that Measure J, which county voters approved last year to set aside public funds for social services and jail diversion programs, is unconstitutional.

In a proposed ruling Thursday, Judge Mary Strobel said the amendment to the county’s charter improperly restricts the L.A. County Board of Supervisors from deciding how and where to spend county funds. Strobel said at a court hearing that she expects to make the ruling final in coming weeks.

The measure, which passed easily, requires that 10% of locally generated, unrestricted county money — an estimated $300 million each year — be spent on services such as housing, mental health treatment and investments in communities harmed by racism. The measure prohibits the county from using the money on prisons, jails or law enforcement agencies.

The current board or any future board, the judge said, could adopt a budget with those spending priorities — but it can’t be forced to.

 

“The only question presented is whether the ballot process can be used to take this budgeting choice out of the hands of the current and future elected boards,” Strobel wrote in her proposed ruling. “The court concludes it cannot.”

The challenge to Measure J was brought by the Coalition of County Unions, a group of labor unions that includes the Assn. of Los Angeles Deputy Sheriffs, which represents rank-and-file deputies.

Attorneys for the union coalition contended that voters did not have the authority to adopt the measure and argued it impaired the board’s ability to manage the county’s finances. The Board of Supervisors, which chose to put the measure on the ballot, countered that the county charter could address budgeting issues and thus the amendment to it was legitimate.

Complete article.