What 9 cases from Kamala Harris’ past say about her record as a California prosecutor

1. Harris faces first test when a cop is killed The shooting of a police officer on a poorly lit street in San Francisco in 2004 would haunt Harris for decades.

Officer Isaac Espinoza and his partner were in plainclothes when they approached a man in their unmarked vehicle on April 10. Espinoza, 29, stepped out and flashed a light at David Hill, according to accounts of trial testimony.

Hill fired several rounds from an AK-47. Two struck Espinoza, killing him. Espinoza’s partner was injured, and Hill was accused of first-degree murder, along with other charges.

The newly elected DA, Harris, declined to pursue the death penalty against Hill – consistent with her position while she campaigned for the office, but offensive to many who attended Espinoza’s funeral.

“Isaac paid the ultimate price,” said San Francisco Police Officers Association President Gary Delagnes at the funeral. “And I speak for all officers in demanding that his killer also pay the ultimate price.”

After eight weeks of testimony, jurors convicted Hill of second-degree murder and attempted murder. They rejected the charge of first-degree murder, not finding the act premeditated, and Hill’s conviction and life sentence were upheld in 2011.

In her 2009 book “Smart on Crime,” Harris wrote: “The broadly held assumption that simply increasing the penalty for any crime will automatically deter more people from committing the crime is a myth. We have to understand why long sentences alone are not sufficient to rock the crime pyramid for many types of crimes.”

"3. Harris vs. the mentally ill woman shot by police, then prosecuted"

The woman was in a group home for mentally ill people. There's no info as to who was running the home, the county, the city, the state. Those places are supervised and have to report to someone in order to keep their licenses. My question is why were the cops called to a home? They should have had their own security on site to deal with problem residents.

I worked briefly as a Safety Officer at a State Psychiatric Center in Syracuse, NY. We were called to the units if a resident was acting out. We weren't allowed to put any type of cuffs on them. We had to physically restrain them until one of the nurses could get permission from a physician to give the unruly nutcase a shot to knock them out.

If the cops picked up a drunk causing a problem in the community, they would take him to the local hospital. When that drunk was ordered into rehab by a hospital doctor, we had to go to the hospital, and transport him to the facility for admission. If he was belligerent, we could use cuffs on him until we got to the unit he was being admitted to. Then the cuffs would come off, and he'd be their problem for the rest of the night.

In the early 80's, it was much easier working with convicted felons behind the bars of NY State's prisons, at least until AIDS came along, and Mario Cuomo closed the psych centers around the State. Eventually the mentally ill he dumped, ended up in the prison system. I did 25 years, one day at a time.

Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.