Monthly Archive: March 2021

A California murderer, who confessed to killing at least seven young women between 1977 and 1987, was put to death at the state’s Mule Creek Prison on February 28, at the age of 81.  Appropriately, the criminal known as the I-5 Strangler died by strangulation at the hands of his cellmate, convicted murderer Jason Budrow.  Ryan Sabalow of the Sacramento Bee reports that Roger Kibbe confessed the murders to detectives in exchange for prosecutors not seeking the death penalty.  Vito Bertocchini, the retired San Joaquin Sheriff’s detective that worked the case, believes that Kibbe left more victims.  If this killer had been charged after Governor Newsom had granted a blanket reprieve to all the murderers on death row, it is unlikely he would have volunteered any information about his victims.  Thanks to Newsom’s edict, Budrow was able to kill his cellmate with relative impunity.   Even if prosecutors are able to secure a death sentence for him, it is unlikely he will ever be executed.  Perhaps the state should move this guy into another murderer’s cell.

With the sanctuary state of California offering free medical care, driver’s licenses, education and other benefits to illegal aliens, along with protection from deportation, and the Biden administration announcement that it will grant amnesty to illegals, reinstate chain migration and not turn away any unaccompanied minors, why wouldn’t foreign nationals pay human smugglers (called coyotes) to get them into the Golden State?  The Associated Press reports that the Ford Expedition that crashed into a semi truck near El Centro, CA on March 2, was carrying 25 people, 13 of which died in the crash.  The vehicle was one of two SUVs that drove through a hole in California’s border fence to smuggle Mexicans into the U.S.  The second, a Chevy Suburban, caught fire on the highway and all 19 passengers were taken into custody.  Under current U.S. and California law, they will undoubtedly be released, and perhaps bused to a U.S. City.  The welcome mat has been laid out and for the coyotes business is booming.

Fox News Primetime host Lawrence Jones interviewed family members of crime victims about the recall of Los Angeles District Attorney George Gascón; reporter Talia Kaplan wrote an article this morning for Fox News summarizing the interviews. The common opinion among the families of the victims is Gascón is prioritizing criminals over the victims they harm. 

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A bill introduced in the House (HR 7120) by California democrat Karen Bass appears to encourage police departments to adopt race and gender based quotas to avoid being sued.  NBC News reports that the Biden Administration is supporting the George Floyd Justice in Policing Act to tackle “systemic racism — in police departments.”  Attorney Hans Bader, who reviews the bill in Liberty Unyielding, suggests that it might actually cause racism.  “Under the bill, what matters is numbers and racial bean counting, not actual racism or sexism.”  Disparate impact in police stops or interviews based on race or gender is defined as “prima facie evidence” of a “violation,”  under the proposed law.

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The ABA Journal reports that last week the U.S. Supreme Court accepted Wooden v. United States for review.   The case involves a defendant’s pro se appeal of his enhanced sentence under the federal Armed Career Criminal Act.  William Wooden, a habitual felon, was arrested in November of 2014 for being a felon in possession of a firearm. Due to Wooden’s prior convictions; a 1989 conviction of aggravated assault, a 1997 conviction for ten burglaries, and a 2005 conviction for burglary, he was sentenced to 15 years.  In December of 2019 the Sixth Circuit upheld his conviction and sentence, rejecting Wooden’s claim that the 1997 burglaries, where he burglarized ten mini storage warehouses located at a single property, should only count as a single burglary.

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Governor Gavin Newsom will soon be appointing a new attorney general of California. In a LA Times article yesterday Patrick McGreevy stated, “…he is preparing to appoint a state attorney general from a field of potential candidates that includes some of the state’s leading critics of the death penalty.” The concern here is that the death penalty will not be applied to those individuals who commit heinous violent crimes when it remains a legal and protected means of sentencing under the California state constitution. 

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Representatives of crime victims, former and current prosecutors and Los Angeles political leaders launched the campaign to recall LA District Attorney George Gascón on February 27.  Former District Attorney Steven Cooley, former City Council member Dennis Zine and Former LA County Supervisor Mike Antonovich are backing the effort.  Ben Poston of the Los Angeles Times reports that the recall effort will have 160 days to gather roughly 580,000 signatures to put the recall on the ballot.  According to proponents their campaign already has 40,000 members.  Opposition to Gascón has been fueled by a list of “directives” he issued shortly after he was sworn in.   Among them is one which eliminated sentencing increases for habitual felons required by state law, and another essentially abolishing the death penalty for any murderer in Los Angeles County.   Another Gascón directive eliminates cash bail for arrestees, although 54% of Los Angeles County voters rejected a ballot measure to do this last November.

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