Free Republic

Dist. Atty. Nathan Hochman will allow prosecutors to seek the death penalty again in Los Angeles, undoing one of the signature policies of his predecessor, George Gascón. The move comes as little surprise: Hochman campaigned on the issue almost as soon as he announced his challenge to Gascón in 2023. But it still marks a significant shift in one of the largest prosecutor’s offices in the nation. Under California law, the death penalty can only be sought in cases where a defendant is accused of murder with special circumstances. That can include multiple homicides or cases where the victim is...

Governor Gavin Newsom announced this week that he will delay a decision on clemency for Lyle and Erik Menéndez until the newly elected Los Angeles district attorney reviews their case. Current DA George Gascón recently recommended the brothers be resentenced for the 1989 murders of their parents, arguing they have “paid their debt to society.” He also wrote to Newsom in support of the brothers, who claim they acted in response to years of abuse. Earlier this month, voters replaced progressive DA Gascón with Nathan Hochman, a former federal prosecutor who criticized Gascón’s policies as “pro-criminal.” Newsom’s office stated that...

A tumultuous first term in office for Los Angeles County Dist. Atty. George Gascón seems likely to end in a failed reelection bid, as he trails challenger Nathan Hochman by more than 20 percentage points in early returns. Gascón swept into office in 2020 on a promise of reform and restorative justice, but Hochman — a former federal prosecutor and defense attorney — has spent months painting the incumbent as responsible for increases in crime and homelessness around L.A.

With one day to go until Election Day, the reelection prospects of Los Angeles County District Attorney George Gascón remain dim. According to a UC Berkeley Institute of Governmental Studies poll that was co-sponsored by the Los Angeles Times, Gascón remains 25 points behind his challenger, former federal prosecutor Nathan Hochman. Despite campaign events and high-profile announcements like his support of resentencing for the Menendez brothers, Gascón has made up little ground on his 30-point deficit from last month. Mark DiCamillo, director of the poll, previously told the Times that the race was “not even close,” and with only days...

Prosecutors in Los Angeles are reviewing new evidence in the case of Erik and Lyle Menendez to determine whether they should be serving life sentences for killing their parents in their Beverly Hills mansion more than 35 years ago, the city’s district attorney said Thursday. Los Angeles County District Attorney George Gascón said during a news conference that attorneys for Erik Menendez, 53, and his 56-year-old brother, Lyle Menendez, have asked a court to vacate their conviction. Gascón said there is no question the brothers committed the murders, but that his office will be reviewing new evidence and will make...

A repeat offender who was spared prison time by Los Angeles’ progressive District Attorney might be eligible for a state-funded funeral after shooting and killing two police officers. Justin Flores, 35, was killed after a shootout at a hotel in El Monte, a city east of Los Angeles, on Tuesday. Two police officers later died of gunshot wounds they suffered at the hands of Flores. Corporal Michael Paredes and Officer Joseph Santana of the El Monte Police Department were responding to a domestic violence report at a local hotel, according to CBS News. In a sick twist, Flores himself may...

A George Soros-funded district attorney cut a deal with a Los Angeles man to avoid prison time after an armed robbery, and now authorities are accusing him of murdering a tourist, the Los Angeles Times reported Wednesday. Prosecutors under the helm of L.A. County District Attorney George Gascon agreed to a plea deal with Leroy McCrary, which gave him a suspended three-year prison sentence after he was convicted of armed robbery, with McCrary now being accused of murdering a woman while out on probation, according to the L.A. Times. Left-wing billionaire George Soros’ California Justice & Public Safety PAC gave...

As homicides and robberies continue to rise, Los Angeles District Attorney George Gascon has created a backlog of 15,000 unfiled criminal cases, leading to concerns that unprosecuted criminals in the zero-bail county are able to stay on the streets and keep committing new crimes without any consequences. While LAPD did not respond to a public records request on updated crime data by the time of publication as the department adopts a new crime reporting system, a LAPD public information officer told The Center Square there were 438 gunshot victims and homicides are up 11%, robberies up 17.6%, motor vehicle theft...

LA County Assistant DA Diana Teran, who oversaw George Gascón's efforts to prosecute law enforcement officers instead of criminals and to release thousands of felons from prison early, was arrested Saturday on 11 felony charges related to the "unauthorized use of data from confidential, statutorily-protected peace officer files." Like many alleged felons in Los Angeles County, Teran was out on bail less than an hour after her arrest. Unlike many alleged felons in Los Angeles County, the Diana Teran scandal has the potential to topple the county's power structure, or to put a severe dent in it. That potential exists...

For political reasons, Los Angeles DA George Gascon dismissed the criminal charges against Konnech CEO Eugene Yu, says the lead prosecutor on the case. LA County District Attorney George Gascon improperly — and for political reasons — dismissed the criminal charges against the CEO of election software services company Konnech, a governmental tort complaint filed Wednesday by the lead prosecutor on the case claims. That eight-page complaint against Gascon with the county Board of Supervisors further alleges the DA retaliated against his lead prosecutor for opposing the dismissal of the charges — and reveals many more previously unknown and troubling...

Los Angeles District Attorney George Gascón has promoted a former public defender to his chief of staff who has called the Los Angeles Police Department "barbarians." Tiffiny Blacknell, who has served in the district attorney's office as a grade 4 prosecutor, special advisor, and chief of communications, was promoted to be Gascón's chief of staff on Friday, multiple sources tell Fox News. Her new role will begin Jan. 16. During the protests following George Floyd's death, Blacknell made a post on X referring to the Los Angeles Police Department as "barbarians," and "an occupying army," and used the "#DefundPolice" hashtag....

Los Angeles' District Attorney George Gascon has promoted a self-professed looter to serve as Chief of Staff for the largest prosecutorial office in the country. George Gascon, who's famed for his progressive views, announced on Friday that he will be assigning Tiffiny Blacknell to the Chief of Staff position in his office. Blacknell, a former public defender, regularly speaks of her support of defunding the police - referring to LAPD officers as 'barbarians' and claiming they are an 'occupying army'. The anti-police activist has posed wearing T-shirts saying bold statements like 'the police are trained to kill us' and 'they...

In May 2021, Joseph Borgen was violently assaulted by a Muslim mob while walking down the street in midtown Manhattan in the vicinity of an anti-Israel rally. The Jewish man was kicked, punched, pepper sprayed, beaten with a metal object, and ended up in the hospital.Borgen was taunted as a “dirty Jew” and the assault was caught on video. “They were kicking me in my ribs, my stomach,” he described.Waseem Awawdeh, the best known of the attackers, was out two days later. Even after Awawdeh reportedly told prison guards, “If I could do it again, I would do it again”,...

The committee to recall Los Angeles County District Attorney George Gascón has filed a lawsuit that contends the committee has evidence that tens of thousands of petition signatures were wrongly rejected and seeks the certification of the recall petition. https://signalscv.com/2023/07/recall-gascon-committee-sues-county-claiming-thousands-of-wrongly-rejected/ https://twitter.com/SCVSignal/status/1677479063487913985

The NY Post has a report today about the ongoing troubles in Los Angeles DA George Gascon’s poorly run office. According to the sources who spoke to the NY Post the office is still short by well over 100 staffers and has a backlog of 10,000 cases.“The reputation of the office has been destroyed and people know he’s hostile to his employees,” said Eric Siddall, vice president of the LA County Association of Deputy District Attorneys.“He has an authoritarian management style, and engages in retaliatory acts against employees who don’t share his ideology.”Sources claimed the District Attorney’s Office has over...

A Los Angeles County jury awarded $1.5 million to a prosecutor as part of a retaliation lawsuit against District Attorney George Gascon, who faces similar complaints in a series of legal actions. Shawn Randolph sued Gascon, claiming she was transferred from supervising the DA's juvenile division, and effectively demoted, for speaking out against his policies, which have come under heavy scrutiny from his own prosecutors and elected officials. Randolph previously raised concerns that Gascon's criminal justice reforms could be harmful or unethical.

Los Angeles District Attorney George Gascón has ordered his prosecutors to avoid filing criminal charges against illegal immigrants - so that they don't get deported. Woke Gascón's new directive issued this week means prosecutors will have to weigh the effects of their charging decisions on the immigration status of the suspects. Instead, they will be encouraged to seek diversion programs to help avoid offenders, living in LA illegally, from being deported

Walmart CEO Doug McMillon admitted that theft has become a major issue for the chain.. he said that woke district attorneys' policies need to be 'corrected' or the company will be forced to raise prices or shut stores.. McMillon did not specify which locations have experienced the record-high level of shoplifting, but stores in LA have had to lock up most of their inventory.. Robberies there are up over 10%; critics blame DA George Gascon's policies.. ... Target, also revealed that shoplifting at its stores had jumped more than 50 percent year on year, leading to more than $400 million...

A white supremacist group hung a banner in support of Kanye West on a Los Angeles overpass on Saturday. Goyim Defense League – a hate group responsible for multiple instances of antisemitic flyers distributed across the United States – also held a demonstration with Nazi salutes at the 405 Freeway overpass in support of the rapper, who has been widely denounced for recent antisemitic statements. Members of the extremist group made Nazi salutes as they unfurled the banner that said, “Kanye is right about the Jews,” the Los Angeles Times reported. “It’s not just words,” tweeted Sam Yebri, a lawyer...

As they say, life moves fast.On Monday, the New York Times published a story about a “small group of election deniers” who pushed a “conspiracy theory” that “a small American election software company, Konnech, had secret ties to the Chinese Communist Party and had given the Chinese government backdoor access to personal data about two million poll workers in the United States.”On Tuesday, Los Angeles District Attorney George Gascón announced that Eugene Yu, Konnech’s CEO, had been arrested in Michigan “as part of an investigation into the possible theft of personal identifying information of [LA County election] workers” and that...