Category: Prosecutors

“Progressive” Prosecutors Actually Help Crime Victims……

by · Sep 16, 2021 4:06 pm

…..except when they don’t.  One particularly dreadful case of a “progressive” prosecutor, Steven Descano, betraying a crime victim is the one set out below, in which Descano agreed to a sweetheart deal with a fellow who, over several years when the victim was in grade school, sodomized her again and again.

The Washington Post, not exactly a friend of stern law enforcement, has the story.  The perversion of justice in this case is so bad that the girl’s family has retained an attorney to fight the plea deal before the sentencing judge.  (Full disclosure:  I’m a resident of Descano’s district, Fairfax County, Virginia, and contributed to the campaign of his election opponent, former AUSA Jonathan Fahey).

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Woke DAs Supporting Murderers

by · Sep 1, 2021 10:14 am

The Metropolitan News-Enterprise has this story on George Gascón and a few other “woke” California District Attorneys supporting the murderer in the recent California Supreme Court case of People v. McDaniel. (See earlier posts on the decision here and here.) The Met is an LA legal paper, so the story focuses on Gascón and the criticism of his friend-of-the-murderer brief by former DA Steve Cooley, among others.

Former Los Angeles County District Attorney Steve Cooley, whose office in 2004 obtained a death sentence for double-murderer Donte McDaniel, has taken to task the county’s present chief prosecutor, George Gascón, for joining in an amicus curiae brief in support of that inmate, whose novel legal proposition, spurned last week by the California Supreme Court, would have resulted in the sentences of about 700 persons being upset.

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Under Gascón, Defense Attorneys Serve as Prosecutors

by · Aug 16, 2021 12:07 pm

The family of an elderly couple brutally murdered by a habitual criminal in 1996, have asked a Los Angeles County judge to remove the prosecutor in a hearing where double-murderer Samuel Zamudio is seeking to overturn his conviction.  Scott Schwebke of the East Bay Times reports that Diana Teran, the deputy Gascón assigned to the case, was a defense attorney until last April 1, when she went on loan to the DAs office and is still receiving a $218,000 salary from the Public Defender’s Office.  The attorney representing the victims’ family told the court that having a defense attorney serving as a prosecutor presents an “inherent conflict of interest.”

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A Tale of Two District Attorneys

by · Jun 29, 2021 2:22 pm

One of the most devastating changes to California law in recent years was Proposition 57, Jerry Brown’s “Public Safety and Rehabilitation Act,”  adopted by voters in 2016.  Everything about the initiative was a lie.  It was not about public safety and rehabilitation, it was designed to release thousands of hardcore criminals from prison, years and sometimes decades early.  Governor Brown claimed it would only allow non-violent criminals qualify for early release, but District Attorneys and the Courts determined that anyone, including criminals convicted of forcible rape and murder would qualify.  The initiative also removed all control over who gets released early and how long a sentence they must serve from the legislature and placed it with the Governor and his Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation (CDCR).  Weeks ago the CDCR announced that it intended to make up to 76,000 prison inmates, including rapists and murderers serving life terms, eligible for parole and early release.  This could not happen without Governor Gavin Newsom’s approval.  43 District Attorneys, led by Sacramento DA Anne Marie Schubert, are suing to block this policy.

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Crime and Homelessness Driving Out San Francisco Residents

by · Jun 29, 2021 10:01 am

Mark Calvey of The San Francisco Business Times has this story discussing a survey of City residents measuring their overall concerns about their environment. The article states the following:

Amid sharply rising concerns about crime and quality-of-life issues, 44% of respondents to the San Francisco Chamber of Commerce’s annual CityBeat poll say they intend to leave the city in the next few years. The CityBeat survey found that homelessness and “street behavior” is a top concern for 65% of respondents, with crime and open-air drug-dealing a top concern for 46%. Longstanding problems facing San Francisco residents — housing affordability and cost of living — were far behind, cited as top concerns by 19% and 10%, respectively. 

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Using Prosecutorial Discretion to Negate Law

by · Jun 28, 2021 1:55 pm

In a City Journal article former District Attorney Thomas Hogan notes that progressive DAs are abusing their discretion to set countywide policies to prevent the enforcement of laws enacted to discourage and punish crime.

Baltimore is not prosecuting shoplifting or drug-possession crimes. Despite recent violent protests and occupations, St. Louis is not pursuing cases for looting and rioting, while Portland isn’t pursuing charges for trespassing. Philadelphia won’t allow prostitution charges. San Francisco is not prosecuting indecent exposure offenses. Chicago declines arrests for thefts of less than $1,000.

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Gascón’s Directive Releases Dangerous Criminals on Probation

by · Jun 24, 2021 11:21 am

Los Angeles District Attorney George Gascón’s Special Directive 20-08,  forbids the deputies working for him from applying sentencing enhancements to charges against criminals, even for violent crimes. As reported by Los Angeles Association of Deputy District Attorneys (ADDA) President Michele Hanisee today:

Nearly all…crimes are probation eligible. Murder is probation eligible. Carjacking is probation eligible. Kidnapping is probation eligible. What typically causes a crime to be ineligible for probation is the addition of a sentencing enhancement, for example, use of a deadly weapon or infliction of great bodily injury. But since filing all but a handful of sentencing enhancements is prohibited, nearly every crime remains probation eligible. Thus – even for murder – the presumptive offer for those roughly 95,000 plus cases for which plea bargains are offered must be probation absent “extraordinary circumstances.”

The directive does not define what qualifies as “extraordinary circumstances.” What does that mean in the context of a murder case, or a carjacking case? But by definition, “extraordinary circumstances” will be a rare exception. The rule is that prosecutors must offer a plea bargain that results in the defendant going home on probation rather than serving time in custody.  Even for murder.

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Criminal Released Early in San Francisco Stabs Elderly Woman

by · Jun 17, 2021 11:47 am

The NYPost has this story on a 94-year-old Asian woman, Ann Taylor, who was stabbed by a man who was under ankle monitor surveillance when he committed this unprovoked attack against her in front of her San Francisco residence. The man, Daniel Cauich, “…had reportedly been arrested five times last year on burglary charges, was sprung by a judge on June 7 to await his trial after his most recent arrest for burglary on May 18.” 

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LA Co. Judge Reinstates Sentencing Charges After Victims Object

by · May 28, 2021 2:41 pm

There has been a significant development in the victims’ revolt against LA DA George Gascón’s reckless policies.

Judge Rob Villeza of the East Judicial District of LA Superior Court, in Pomona, initially dismissed special circumstance allegations against Raymond Gonzalez, who is charged with two counts of murder and carjacking. The dismissal was based on a motion by the District Attorney’s Office under the DA’s special directives to never charge special circumstances and to dismiss any pending special circumstance allegations. But then the victims’ families sought reconsideration. Continue reading . . .

LA DA Recall Signature Drive Kicks Off

by · May 27, 2021 10:01 am

The signature drive to recall Los Angeles District Attorney George Gascón kicked off yesterday, Wendy Burch reports for KTLA 5. Among the initial signers were County Sheriff Alex Villanueva and former DA Steve Cooley.

The primary push behind the drive, though, is from victims of crime and the families of victims who have seen the current DA dole out shocking leniency to people have committed horrible crimes.

Among them is Desiree Andrade. Last December, just one week after Gascón’s infamous special directives, the special circumstance allegations were dismissed against the killers who beat and stabbed her son, stomped on his head, and threw him off a cliff. Bill Melugin of Fox 11 had this report at the time. The lack of the special circumstance charge not only precludes the death penalty, but it also precludes a sentence of life without parole, meaning the killers will eventually be eligible for parole. Continue reading . . .