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New Effort Launched to Recall District Attorney Gascón
This Time It Will Succeed, Former D.A. Cooley Says, Proclaiming a $2.5 Million War Chest in Funds Already Collected or Pledged, With Professional Consultants Hired to Run Operations
By a MetNews Staff Writer
A new effort to recall Los Angeles County District Attorney George Gascón was launched yesterday—this time, with hefty funding and professional guidance in contrast to a previous failed grass roots bid.
Former District Attorney Steve Cooley told the METNEWS:
“This effort to recall DA Gascón will succeed because it is beginning with $2.5 million raised or pledged. The effort is now being led by top notch professionals.
“The volunteer base remains committed and there are opportunities to expand the petition circulation effort. The antipathy towards Gascón is beyond palpable as the public at large sees the victimization and crime created by his policies and the policies of other Soros created ‘non prosecutors’.”
George Soros is a New York billionaire who pumped $2.25 million into Gascón’s election campaign.
Gascón was served at the Hall of Justice by leaving a copy of the notice of intent to recall with a staff member. The district attorney was not in the office.
The notice was signed by 39 murder victims’ next of kin, three of whom spoke at a gathering outside the building as did victim rights attorney Kathleen Cady of the Dordulian Law Group in Glendale.
Cady Comments
Cady, a former deputy district attorney, said later that “victims want justice and an elected official who upholds the law, respects and honors victims rights and keeps our communities safe,” adding:
Gascón has ignored victims and his policies endanger community safety.”
The district attorney has seven days to draft a rebuttal to the allegations. After that, the signed original notice will be filed with the Registrar/Recorder’s Office which has 10 days in which to review the petition.
The petitioners would then have 160 days to gather the required number of valid signatures.
Should a recall be placed on the ballot, voters would choose a successor to Gascón should he be ousted from office.
One Year Ago
Today marks one year since Gascón was sworn into office. He quit his appointed post as district attorney of San Francisco to run here, trouncing District Attorney Jackie Lacey in her bid for a third term.
On that first day, he released a series of special directives setting forth policies against stiff sentences.
Enforcement of some of the directives was blocked by Los Angeles Superior Court Judge James Chalfant in response to a writ petition filed by the Association of Deputy District Attorneys (“ADDA”). Gascón’s appeal from the granting of a preliminary injunction is before the Court of Appeal for this district.
Summaries of Cases
A position paper prepared for a recall website chronicles 14 murder cases affected by Gascón’s policies, including the case of People v. Samuel Zamudio in which the prosecution is seeking to have a death sentence vacated on the ground that the defendant is mentally deficient. Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Roger Ito on Friday declined to act pursuant to a stipulation by the prosecution and defense and will conduct a hearing to determine for himself if an execution is constitutionally barred.
The summary, which lists victims, says:
“Elmer and Gladys Benson—On February 11, 1996, 79-year old Elmer was in a wheelchair when Samuel Zamudio stabbed him 6 times. His wife, Gladys, who was 74 years old was stabbed 13 times during the home invasion robbery. A jury convicted the defendant of two counts of murder, multiple murder Special Circumstance and robbery and sentenced him to death. The case is now back in court on a defense motion. Gascon’s blanket Death Penalty and Habeas Corpus Policies require the prosecution to concede so that the death sentence will be converted to Life Without the Possibility of Parole.”
Fatal Stabbing
Also highlighted in the summary is a case in which a gang member fatally stabbed a member of a rival gang. It says:
“Kevin Orellana—On April 24, 2013, brothers Anthony and Michael Carpio attacked 18-year old Kevin Orellana who was at the handball courts on the campus of Cleveland High School in Reseda. Michael started the fight, but Anthony pulled a knife and stabbed Orellana 10 times in the head, neck, and left and right torso. Anthony Carpio, who was 16 was charged in adult court and a jury convicted both defendants of second-degree murder with a gang allegation. Proposition 57, enacted by the voters in 2016, changed the law to allow the prosecutor to make a motion to transfer a minor to criminal court but required that a judge make the final decision. Gascon’s Youth Justice Policy, however, mandated that Carpio stay in juvenile court resulting in his release from custody.”
Proposition 57 requires that a judge hold a hearing on whether to transfer an inmate who committed a crime as a youth from Juvenile Court to adult court. In light of acquiescence by Gascón’s office to Carpio remaining in Juvenile Court, Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Morton Rochman, without holding a hearing, ruled that there would be no transfer and Carpio, already age 25 and beyond the reach of the Juvenile court, was released.
Sentence-Enhancement Allegations
Gascón ordered one-year ago that deputies move to have all sentence-boosting allegations charged under Lacey vacated. There was, largely, compliance.
Chalfant held on Feb. 8 that it was “unlawful” to require “deputy district attorneys to seek dismissal of pending sentencing enhancements without a lawful basis”: either that it be in “furtherance of justice” or the strike can’t be proven. A case involving particular brutality in which the directive was carried out is described in the summary:
“Julian Andrade – On May 28, 2018, Julian Hamori-Andrade was beaten and stabbed by several defendants. Believing he was dead, the defendants placed Julian into a vehicle and drove into the mountains where the defendants kicked and stomped Julian until they thought he was dead again when they rolled him off the cliff. They heard him making more sounds and went down the hill and stomped him. Gascon’s blanket Enhancement Policy required prosecutors to ask the judge to dismiss allegations.”
Two of the defendants, Francisco Amigon and Jacob Hunter Elmendorf, were allowed to plead guilty to voluntary manslaughter, with Amigon sentenced to 11 years in prison and Elmendorf to six years. Hercules Dimitrios Balaskas, Andrew Joseph Michael Williams, and Luzon Matthew Martin Capiendo, are still awaiting trial on charges of murder, kidnapping and robbery.
Burned to Death
The summary also tells of allegations being dropped in a case in which the victims met their deaths in a fire:
“Michael Pollard and Devaughn Carter—Defendant Efrem Demery was friends with Michael Pollard and DeVaughn Carter who were both studio musicians. On April 14, 2018, the defendant had an altercation with them. The defendant followed them back to the studio, purchased gasoline and a lighter. He went inside the studio and poured gasoline at the base of the door into the room where he knew the victims were and set it on fire. Michael Pollard and Devaughn Carter were both killed in the fire. The defendant was initially charged with two counts of murder with Special Circumstance of multiple murder. Gascon refused to meet with the victims’ mother despite numerous requests and to ensure his blanket Enhancement Policy was followed, ordered that the Special Circumstance allegation be dismissed making the defendant eligible for elder parole in 17 years.”
Demery pled no contest to two counts of murder and one count of arson and was sentenced on July 28 to 50 years to life in prison on Wednesday.
A July 28 press release from Gascón’s office says:
“Los Angeles County District Attorney George Gascón announced that a man who set a fire that killed two people and severely injured a teenage girl was sentenced today to 50 years to life in state prison.
“ ‘Although the life sentence in this case does not bring back the victims, it does hold the defendant accountable for his deadly actions,’ District Attorney Gascón said. ‘My deepest sympathies go out to the families, whose lives were forever altered by this atrocious crime.’ ”
The press release does not reveal Demery’s parole eligibility in light of the special-circumstance allegation having been vacated.
Parole Hearings
Gascón has forbidden deputies to oppose parole for any inmates convicted in the county. The summary sets forth:
“Emily Shane—April 3, 2010, Sina Khankhanian drove his car for 17 miles at speeds up to 70 mph on Pacific Coast Highway before he hit and killed 13-year old Emily Shane. He said he aimed for her, and she deserved to die. He was convicted of murdering Emily. When Emily’s parents attended the defendant’s parole hearing, the prosecutor was not allowed to attend or participate because of Gascon’s Resentencing Policy. Emily’s parents were deliberately kept in the dark about the information that would be presented at the parole hearing of their daughter’s murderer, causing them undue grief and anxiety.”
On Nov. 2, the parents, Ellen and Michel Shane, appeared on KFI radio and announced that Khankhanian had been denied parole.
Attorney Termed ‘Monster’
After a year in office, Gascón and his followers are locked in a heated battle with critics, which include the ADDA. That association’s vice president, Eric W. Siddall, said in an article posted on the ADDA website on Friday (and appearing in the METNEWS today on Page 9):
“[A] Gascón advisor called a victim’s rights attorney a ‘monster’ for her pro bono work advocating for the next of kin of murdered victims. Amid last year’s riots in the Fairfax District, that same advisor took to social media to encourage her followers to ‘burn that shit down.’ ”
Siddall was referring to a Nov. 17 article in the New York Times Magazine. The person termed a “monster” is Cady.
The article says:
“Frustrated prosecutors and detectives also took a highly unusual step: They helped the families of homicide victims find legal help to fight Gascón in court. The central node in that effort was a single lawyer, Kathleen Cady.
“After nearly 30 years of prosecuting offenses like sex and hate crimes, and leading a domestic-violence unit, Cady retired from the district attorney’s office in 2019 and spent much of her time volunteering with victims’ rights groups.”
Blair’s Criticism
The article goes on to say:
“The victims Cady represents, or connected with other lawyers, were mostly Latino and Black. Gascon’s leadership team accused Cady of exploiting them. ‘What harmed people really want,’” says Alisa Blair, a special adviser to Gascón and former [deputy] public defender, ‘is to be able to sleep without nightmares, to be able to think of their loved one without falling apart’ and to ‘live their lives with the confidence that they’re not going to be attacked.’ She continues: ‘Kathleen Cady is a monster. There’s this pretense of a victims’ rights attorney—she is traumatizing these victims. She’s instilling anger.’ ”
Cady told the METNEWS:
“It is my honor to advocate for victims and make sure their voice is heard and their rights are honored. It is unfortunate Ms. Blair has chosen to continue to advocate for criminal defendants while claiming to represent the People of Los Angeles.”
Copyright 2021, Metropolitan News Company