Whittier Daily News: Norwalk, La Habra Heights poised to say they have no confidence in LA DA

Two more Whittier-area cities are poised to cast a vote of no confidence in Los Angeles County District Attorney George Gascón.

Both directed their respective staffers to bring back resolutions of no confidence for approve at future meetings. Norwalk City Council voted 5-0 on Tuesday, June 15, while La Habra Heights’ City Council voted 3-2 on Monday, June 14.

Norwalk is expected to act in a special meeting on Tuesday, June 22, while La Habra Heights won’t return to the dais until July 12. Earlier on June 1, the city councils of San Gabriel and Temple City also approved votes of no confidence.

So far, 18 cities have had similar votes, including Arcadia, Azusa, Beverly Hills, Covina, Diamond Bar, Hidden Hills,  Lancaster, La Mirada, Manhattan, Palos Verdes Estates, Pico Rivera, Redondo Beach, Rosemead, Santa Clarita, San Gabriel, Santa Fe Springs, Temple City and Whittier.

Max Szabo, a spokesman for Gascón, said Wednesday, June 16 by phone that with 88 cities in Los Angeles County, the number of cities approving votes of no confidence isn’t particularly large.

“George was elected by the majority of voters in Los Angeles County,” Szabo said. “He wasn’t elected by a majority of politicians on these largely conservative city councils.”

Meanwhile a campaign to collect signatures to recall Gascón is under way.

Complete article.

Fox 11: 17 cities vote no confidence in DA

LOS ANGELES – Seventeen cities have now issued votes of “no confidence” in Los Angeles County District Attorney George Gascón and the list of cities opposed to his reform policies continues to grow.

At the San Gabriel City Council meeting, which didn’t end until after midnight on Tuesday, there were over 100 letters in support of the “no confidence” vote and only five against it. The “no confidence” vote passed by a 4-1 vote.

San Gabriel joins 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, which have all issued votes of “no confidence” in the elected DA.

Complete article.

Metropolitan News-Enterprise: Order Snipping Sentence-Boosting Allegations Is Dumped

Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Rob B. Villeza—who in January granted a motion made pursuant to a special directive to deputies by District Attorney George Gascón and allowed the prosecution to drop special circumstances and sentencing-enhancement allegations in a murder case—has reconsidered the matter and ordered resurrection of the original information.

 In granting the motion in January, pursuant to Penal Code §1385, Villeza made the requisite finding that the lessening of potential consequences for defendant Raymond Gonzales was “in furtherance of justice,” deferring to Gascón’s policy on a “separation of powers” basis. But in an order issued May 24, of which the METNEWS gained knowledge on Friday, the judge said, on reflection:

“If the prosecutor’s policy preferences alone were deemed sufficient to justify dismissal of an existing charge or enhancement, then section 1385 would not require the court to find that dismissal would be in furtherance of justice.”

Gascón issued seven special directives on Dec. 7, the day he was sworn into office. On Feb. 8. Los Angeles Superior Court Judge James Chalfant issued a preliminary injunction, sought by the Association of Deputy District Attorneys, barring implementation of some of the policies as “unlawful,” declaring:

“The unlawful conduct includes barring deputy district attorneys from charging enhancements they statutorily are obligated to charge, barring deputy district attorneys from complying with their ministerial duty to exercise case-by-case discretion to maintain or move to dismiss charges, mandating that deputy district attorneys move to dismiss special circumstance allegations that cannot be dismissed by law, and mandating that deputy district attorneys attempt to unilaterally abandon a prosecution where a judge denied a motion to dismiss.”

However, the preliminary injunction did not affect actions already taken by judges in response to motions deputies had been compelled to make.

Complete story.

Spectrum News: Recall organizers collect signatures near his Long Beach home

Activists gathering signatures in an effort to recall Los Angeles County District Attorney George Gascón took their effort nearly to his front door this weekend, setting up shop across the street from his house in Long Beach.

Asian Industry B2B President Marc Ang, who organized the event Saturday afternoon outside Gascón’s home in Naples, said more than 80 people gathered on the sidewalk across the street from the residence in front of a school in the 5500 block of East The Toledo.

The group, which included two crime victims, peacefully gathered for about 90 minutes, Ang told City News Service on Sunday.

“We didn’t want to overstay,” Ang said about the neighborhood event. “We wanted to respect the neighbors, and we worked in conjunction with the Long Beach Police Department, and they were very kind to us.”

Karen Roseberry, a leader in the recall effort, noted that the event was on public property.

Recall organizers have until Oct. 27 to gather 580,000 qualified signatures, she said. The group has said it will try to collect 750,000 to 800,000.

If organizers get enough signatures by the deadline, a recall election will be held. Gascón would be removed from office if a majority of voters choose to recall him, and he would be replaced by the candidate who receives the most votes.

Complete article.

Daily Breeze: Judge reinstates enhancements for Baldwin Park gang member accused of double murder

In a reversal of some of Los Angeles County District Attorney George Gascón’s most controversial policies, a judge this week reinstated a special circumstance allegation and a gang enhancement for a Baldwin Park gang member accused of double murder.

Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Rob B. Villeza said in an order issued Monday, May 24, that Gascón’s policy preferences alone are not sufficient to warrant dismissal of the enhancements against Raymond “Danger” Gonzalez.

With removal of the sentencing enhancements, Gonzalez would not have been eligible for life in prison without parole, meaning he could receive a parole hearing in 20 years even if convicted of both homicides.

The District Attorney’s Office did not comment specifically on Villeza’s ruling. “We are weighing our options and will proceed accordingly,” a spokesman said Friday.

Gonzalez is charged with the shooting deaths of Bobby Ryan and Jacob Dominguez at his Baldwin Park home on Dec. 11, 2017. He allegedly killed the men while they slept to steal money one of them had collected in an insurance settlement, according to court records. He then allegedly used the gun to carjack a minivan to transport and bury the bodies in the desert near Victorville.

Complete article.

Metropolitan News-Enterprise: Judge Disqualifies Incoming Prosecutor As Defense Lawyer

Los Angeles Superior Court Judge David R. Fields held yesterday that the man District Attorney George Gascón wants to serve as a special prosecutor, going after law enforcement officers who allegedly commit crimes, cannot continue to represent criminal defendants, booting him off a case when he would not provide an assurance that he will decline the job offer.

Gascón on Feb. 12 asked the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors for authority to hire criminal defense lawyer Lawrence S. Middleton for a four-year term, at $750,000 for the first year and $1.5 million in each of the succeeding years. The board gave its assent on March 23, but Middleton has not yet signed the contract.

Deputy District Attorney Sean M. Carney on April 16, 2021 sent an email to Middleton expressing a concern over his continuing to represent Larthan Merriweather—charged in one complaint with carrying a loaded gun, not registered to him, in public, and in another complaint with three counts of grand theft and other offenses—while at the same time serving as a special prosecutor. In response, Middleton secured a waiver-of-conflict agreement, prepared by the Office of County Counsel, to be signed by himself, Gascón, and Merriweather.

Complete article.

NBC News: LA County DA speaks about reforming the city’s criminal justice system

NBC News: Crime has taken on some unsettling trends in Los Angeles County and District Attorney George Gascón has received some backlash for his response to it. Gascón speaks with Lester Holt about reforming the city’s criminal justice system.

Antelope Valley Times: Judge puts DA union’s case on hold pending appeal

A judge who in February ruled mostly in favor of the Association of Deputy District Attorneys for Los Angeles County in a petition brought against District Attorney George Gascón put the case on hold Tuesday while Gascón appeals.

Los Angeles Superior Court Judge James C. Chalfant issued a preliminary injunction in favor of the union on Feb. 8, finding that Gascón cannot order his prosecutors to ignore laws that the union says protect the public, including three-strike allegations and sentencing enhancements.

The case was back before the judge to set a date for a trial on whether the injunction should be made permanent. But after discussing Gascón’s appeal with the lawyers, Chalfant accepted the agreement made by lawyers on both sides that the case should not move forward until the appeal is decided.

Complete story.

LA Times: An effort to recall Los Angeles D.A. is underway: What happens now?

It’s been less than six months since reform-minded Los Angeles County Dist. Atty. George Gascón took office. But in that time, he’s already faced lawsuits from his own prosecutors other California law enforcement leaders and an outcry from some crime victims who claim his policies have abandoned them. Despite the vitriol, Gascón won his November election handily, besting incumbent Jackie Lacey by more than a quarter-million votes. Gascón’s supporters have dismissed most of the criticisms against him as the result of misguided outrage from reform-resistant law enforcement officials or conservative politicians. The strength of the backlash against Gascón’s plans to reimagine criminal justice in L.A. County will now be put to the test, as a petition seeking to recall him was formally approved Thursday. What happened this week? A petition seeking to remove Gascón from office was approved on Thursday by the L.A. County Registrar, which oversees elections. What happens now? Recall organizers must collect signatures of support from 10% of L.A. County’s registered voters — a little more than 579,000 people — by Oct. 27. Gathering signatures is a costly and labor-intensive task, but if organizers succeed, then a recall election will be held. Gascon would be removed from office if a majority of voters choose to recall him and he would be replaced by the candidate who receives the most votes in the recall election. Roughly 800 people have signed up as volunteer signature gatherers, and another 100 paid gatherers will be deployed “immediately,” according to the recall campaign. A news conference is expected to be held in the coming days, and signature collection sites have been established at dozens of locations around L.A. County, including several gun stores and Republican office buildings. Because it is common for some signatures gathered in recalls to be deemed invalid, Joshua Spivak, a senior fellow at the Hugh L. Carey Institute for Government Reform at Wagner College, the campaign to recall Gascón will need to collect around a total of 750,000 signatures. Who is behind the recall effort? While L.A. County Sheriff Alex Villanueva might be the most high-profile supporter, the recall push is led by former Dist. Atty. Steve Cooley and two women who have lost relatives to violent crime. Tania Owen is the widow of a murdered L.A. County sheriff’s department sergeant, and Desiree Andrade’s son was murdered in 2018. Both have said they were infuriated by Gascón’s decision to forbid his prosecutors from seeking the death penalty or from alleging special circumstances in murder cases, which means people accused of murder generally will not face the death penalty or life without parole. In Owen’s case, her husband’s killer was still sentenced to life without parole under a negotiated plea, though the deal was struck after a judge deemed some of Gascón’s policies to be unlawful. Complete article here.