The Heat Is On

On a Tuesday afternoon in mid June, 2022, two El Monte Police Department officers — Michael Paredes, 42, and Joseph Santana, 31 — responded to a report of a stabbing during a domestic violence dispute. On arriving at the scene, they were ambushed and fatally shot by Justin Flores, 35.  

Flores was a multiple offender, and known to local law enforcement, but critics say he was free to walk the streets due to the soft-on-crime policies of Los Angeles District Attorney George Gascón (D), himself a former Los Angeles police officer.

Opposition to Gascón’s policies has led to two failed recall campaigns, one of which is being challenged in court; claims of retaliation by critics within the District Attorney’s office; over a dozen lawsuits; $2.5 million paid in settlements to two claimants so far against the District Attorney’s office; and an increasingly searing incipient challenge. Critics are already gearing up to challenge Gascón in next year’s election. At this point, his future is uncertain.

Gascón was elected District Attorney in November 2020 after vowing to take on the “machine of mass incarceration.”

Gascón was elected District Attorney in November 2020 after vowing to take on the “machine of mass incarceration.” As laid out in an enthusiastic Guardian article shortly after, Gascón announced he would stop seeking the death penalty; cease prosecuting juveniles as adults; end the practice of applying gang enhancements (additional charges applied to individuals alleged to be gang members); and stated his office would no longer file three-strikes charges, which require life sentences for people with prior convictions for serious or violent offenses. Gascón said such 1990s-era “tough on crime” measures had led to an exponential increase in the prison population, disproportionately affected black and Latino communities and torn families apart, without improving public safety.

A year after Gascón took office, in December 2021, LAist reported that the number of gang and gun enhancement allegations filed by the District Attorney’s office had declined 99% and 63%, respectively, from January-June 2021, his first year in office, compared to the previous nine years. This has resulted in significantly reduced prison sentences.

The District Attorney is now facing a total of 16 lawsuits from Deputy District Attorneys alleging that his office engaged in workplace retaliation by demoting them after they spoke out or refused to enforce his policies.

Many Deputy District Attorneys who have been critical of Gascón have refused to enforce policies that, in their view, are illegal and unethical. The District Attorney is now facing a total of 16 lawsuits from Deputy District Attorneys alleging that his office engaged in workplace retaliation by demoting them after they spoke out or refused to enforce his policies. 

On March 7, a jury concluded that the District Attorney engaged in retaliatory behavior against Deputy District Attorney Shawn Randolph, a 30-year prosecutor, per The Los Angeles Times. Randolph alleged that because she felt that Gascón’s directive on juveniles was illegal and unethical, Gascón transferred her from being head of the juvenile division to the parole division. At the time, Randolph was prosecuting a 17-year-old male who allegedly killed his sister and girlfriend and then burned down an apartment in an attempt to destroy the evidence. 

Beth Correia, one of Randolph’s attorneys, told CBS Los Angeles that the transfer to the parole division was a “dead-end career move.” Gascón’s office argued in court that the move was not retaliatory but part of an overall series of changes the District Attorney began when he took the job. But a jury determined that Gascón owes Randolph $1.5 million in damages and emotional distress. 

Prior to the Randolph case, the District Attorney’s office handed over $1 million in a settlement agreement to since-retired prosecutor Richard Doyle who similarly alleged workplace retaliation, putting the total cost to taxpayers from these lawsuits thus far at $2.5 million. Deputy District Attorney Eric Siddall, vice president of the Association of Los Angeles Deputy District Attorneys, told the Journal that there have likely been millions more spent to pay lawyers’ fees. 

Another notable lawsuit against Gascón was filed in February by John Lewin, a decorated prosecutor who headed the Cold Case Unit of the Major Crimes Division for 20 years. Lewin was able to successfully prosecute real-estate scion Robert Durst in 2021 for murdering his best friend Susan Berman in 2003. Later in 2021, Lewin was given the Ken Lamb Distinguished Achievement Award from the DA’s office. Lewin tried to distance himself from Gascón, however, not wanting to be seen as endorsing what he considered the District Attorney’s illegal policies. 

Lewin made clear to his staff and to Gascón that he would not be enforcing the District Attorney’s initial directives on prior strikes and sentencing enhancements. In September, Lewin was informed that he would be transferred to Calendar Deputy in the Inglewood Area Office the following month. According to the lawsuit, Lewin’s superiors were not made aware of the transfer beforehand, nor were they consulted.

“Gascón has said my transfer is completely routine,” Lewin told the Journal. “The entire office knows it isn’t. We’re going to go to court. A jury’s going to find that it was a retaliatory transfer and he’s going to be held accountable for what he’s done.” 

Siddall told the Journal Lewin’s transfer was “another example of clear retaliation,” saying: “Lewin was using his First Amendment rights to criticize the administration, he has a level of expertise to be able to do so … either it’s a major coincidence or it’s real retaliation.”

A spokesperson from the District Attorney’s office denied Lewin’s claims that Gascón retaliated against him, suggesting to the Daily Mail in November it was a routine “personnel transfer.” 

Other allegations of workplace retaliation have yet to result in a lawsuit. Deputy District Attorney Shea Sanna was suspended on February 22 for five days for “misgendering” and “deadnaming” Hannah Tubbs, a transgender 26-year-old who was convicted of sexually assaulting a 10-year-old girl in a Denny’s restroom. Because Tubbs was 17 at the time, the convict was sent to a female juvenile detention facility. The Los Angeles Daily News reported that Sanna was accused of using “incorrect” pronouns when referring to Tubbs in a strategy meeting and an email, where Sanna suggested he believed Tubbs was identifying as a transgender woman in order to receive a more favorable detainment facility.

Bolstering Sanna’s suspicions, recordings of Tubbs’ phone conversations from jail obtained by Fox News revealed that in conversations between Tubbs and the inmate’s father, they agreed that Tubbs would be called “Hannah” and use feminine pronouns as a means of alleviating Tubbs’ “housing problem.” 

Siddall questioned whether Sanna’s “misgendering” of Tubbs was truly the reason for his suspension, “or is it because Shea went on Fox News and a bunch of news outlets like The LA Times … and criticized the administration for this particular case and the administration’s actions on this case. It seems more, again, like we’re talking about political retaliation.”

Siddall told the Journal that Sanna was “rightfully” concerned about Tubbs because “putting a person like this who’s been charged with sexual assault against women and young girls in a female facility is extremely dangerous.” 

Tiffiny Blacknell, director of communications for the DA’s office, told the New York Post, “While we cannot comment on the specifics of a personnel matter, I can say that the actions taken by the Department were the result of the findings conducted by an independent County Policy of Equity Investigation. I can also say that the transgender community is frequently the target of violent attacks. They are also reluctant to come forward and report their attacks because of how they’re treated in the criminal legal system.”

After the Tubbs controversy arose, Gascón modified his policies surrounding juvenile offenders, acknowledging that the Tubbs sentence was not adequate. 

“If we knew about her disregard for the harm she caused we would have handled this case differently,” Gascón said in a February 2022 statement, using Tubbs’ “preferred pronouns.” He announced new policies “to create a different pathway for outlier cases while simultaneously creating protections to prevent these exceptions from becoming the rule.”

The District Attorney’s office has since created a committee that approves prosecutors’ requests for a juvenile to be tried in adult court. Sanna called the committee a “political stunt” to the Journal, arguing that the people on the committee opposed his efforts to try Tubbs as an adult. Per the midterm report, the committee has referred three cases to adult court and according to Blacknell, in only one case did the court deny their request to try the defendant in adult court.

For his part, Sanna told the Journal that while appealing his suspension he is “walking on eggshells” at work, fearing the suspension could be the first step toward the District Attorney’s office building a case to fire him.

The clutch of lawsuits filed against the District Attorney’s office includes one by Janine Paredes, one of the two widows of the El Monte police officers slain last June by Justin Flores. Paredes filed a $25 million claim in November against Gascón, Los Angeles County and other entities, arguing that the District Attorney’s lax approach to incarceration allowed a man who should have been in prison to remain free, leading to the death of her husband. 

Paredes pointed to information that emerged after the shooting which showed that Flores, despite having a lengthy criminal record, was given a plea deal last year that allowed him to avoid prison time for being in possession of a handgun. As a result of the plea, Flores was only ordered to spend 20 days in jail and placed on two years’ probation.

Deputy District Attorney Jonathan Hatami told Fox 11 Los Angeles that Flores should have been sentenced to nearly three years. Similarly, former Deputy District Attorney Elan Carr told the Journal that because Flores violated his probation, he should have been “in jail for a year, two years, and he was out immediately … it’s a disgrace.” 

In remarks to the Journal, former Los Angeles District Attorney Steve Cooley (R) denounced the fact that Flores was “out” when “he should have been in. … And this is not an uncommon phenomenon.” 

Gascón has defended his actions, arguing that Flores was a drug addict with “no history of violence, very little contact with the criminal justice system for nearly ten years.” His office expressed sympathy for Ms. Paredes, issuing a statement that while they could not comment on her lawsuit, “our hearts go out to the family of Sgt. Paredes… His tragic murder is a devastating loss to both his family, friends and the community he bravely served.”

 Gascón’s approach for cases involving guns has also come in for criticism. Under a tough 1997 California law, prosecutors may seek an additional ten or 20 years in prison or a life sentence if a gun was used in the course of committing a crime, if the gun was fired or if it caused serious injury or death. 

Under Gascón’s original directive, prosecutors couldn’t make gun allegations. In an interview with the Journal, Lewin illustrated the impact of Gascón’s change by providing two hypothetical scenarios. In the first, a group of armed gang members robs a 7/11 store and one of the members fires a gun at the clerk. The shooter has ten prior felony convictions and is on parole for murder. In the second, a man with no prior criminal record and no gang affiliation enters the 7/11 alone and commits a robbery by putting his finger in his pocket and pretending that he has a gun. 

“Under Gascón’s original policies, those two defendants would be treated exactly the same,” Lewin said. “You cannot file a gang enhancement. You can’t file the gun enhancement. You can’t file the fact that he fired the gun. You can’t file the fact that he has prior strikes.” 

Another Gascón policy prosecutors widely criticized was the initial ban on prior strikes, meaning prior violent or serious felony convictions.  This directive was later modified, but according to former Deputy District Attorney Carr in remarks to the Journal, there’s still institutional pressure on “prosecutors to dismiss [prior strikes] as part of sweetheart plea deals.” He further states that “many” enhancement allegations are not approved.      

Sanna concurred, telling the Journal that “sometimes” prior strike allegations get approved, “but we have to ask permission and it’s very rare.” He reported that District Attorneys are afraid to ask “too many times” and that the deputies above them “don’t want to approve too many because they’ll get retaliated against.” 

Blacknell told the Journal that the District Attorney’s policy for nearly two years has been to allege strikes when applicable while the directive waits before the state Supreme Court (two lower courts have stricken down the policy) and that the office has “significantly reduced the number of sentencing enhancements” but “regularly” approves enhancements “when the safety of the community is served by adding them.” She added that the office has filed “thousands” of enhancements over the past couple years.  Regarding gang crime, Blacknell said that the office has “increased our presence in communities that are most harmed by this type of community violence by sending District Attorney Investigators to assist law enforcement in their investigation” and that “we want to continue to enforce the law but we will also partner with the community to support efforts at violence prevention and community education.”      

When asked by the Journal about allegations that there’s pressure to dismiss strikes, the District Attorney’s office responded, “Prosecutors have a duty to abide by the law and ensure that each person accused of a criminal offense is afforded due process throughout the criminal legal process. This includes setting bail and in many cases dispositions by way of plea. Each case is reviewed on an individualized basis and guided by office policy.” The spokesperson then reiterated the office’s policy on prior strikes.

In Siddall’s view, the District Attorney’s office is complying with the court order on strikes, but he told the Journal that they only started making exceptions for enhancements after facing “political” pressure. 

Finally, Gascón has been widely criticized for a directive that initially prevented juveniles from being prosecuted as adults. The directive appropriately noted young people’s “unique vulnerabilities” such as impulsivity, susceptibility to peer influences, risk-taking and lesser ability to fully appreciate long-term consequences. However, critics say the new policy proved to be readily open to abuse.

Carr told the Journal about a case in which he prosecuted an individual who, a few months before his 18th birthday, shot and killed a man in the street.

“Under George Gascón and the new directive, not only would he be out now,” Carr said, but “he would have been out months after he had done that because he couldn’t have been prosecuted as an adult.” He stated that those tried as a juvenile “can’t really be punished … it’s not even called a criminal conviction. It’s called a juvenile petition against a minor.” And when a juvenile walks, they walk “with a clean record.” 

Gascón’s office defends the above policies, including those regarding sentencing enhancements, despite slightly modifying them in a few instances. 

“Excessive sentences have not been shown to enhance public safety, although research has shown that excessive sentences increase the likelihood of re-offending and lead to future victimization,” they state in a 2023 midterm report. The report touts their support to tens of thousands of victims while claiming to have held “people who caused real harm accountable.” They further note that the District Attorney has exonerated the wrongfully convicted. 

The District Attorney’s office denies claims that its progressive policies are responsible for rising crime.

LAPD statistics showed that between 2020 and 2022, homicides increased 14.6%, robberies 16%, aggravated assaults 10.7% and burglaries 5.1%.  Over the same period, arrests declined 10%…Gascón has denied any correlation between these crimes and his policies.

LAPD statistics showed that, between 2020 and 2022, homicides increased 14.6% to 329 victims; robberies increased 16% to 7,716 victims; aggravated assaults increased 10.7% to 17,010 and burglary increased 5.1% to 11,961. Over the same period, arrests declined 10%. 

Gascón has denied any correlation between these crimes and his policies, arguing during a June 2022 town hall that the rise in crimes in various cities nationally is “the result of many of the bad policies that over-criminalize communities without really looking for a path forward to create the reduction of crime, the prevention of crime.”      

Deputy District Attorney Hatami acknowledged in an interview with the Journal that Gascón isn’t entirely to blame for the rise in crime –– there are myriad factors involved, he said, including the pandemic –– but argued that Gascón’s policies share plenty of the blame. 

“I think there’s no question that the pandemic played a part in [rising crime],” Hatami said, “but there’s also no question that George Gascón’s zero bail policies [for misdemeanors, non-serious felonies and non-violent felonies], George Gascón’s statements … were interpreted as, ‘You’re not going to be held accountable.’” 

Blacknell told the Journal that their current bail policy is in line with a 2021 state Supreme Court ruling that courts must consider all other options to cash bail as well as the defendant’s ability pay and that their policy “has always left room for the interest of safety. In fact, we have begun asking the court to preventatively detain those who we believe cannot be released safely. This means that no matter their access to wealth we’ve asked that they be held in custody pending the outcome of their case.” 

Carr and Hatami alleged to the Journal that there is pressure on prosecutors to let defendants walk on zero or low bail, although Hatami acknowledged that it hasn’t happened to him personally. When asked about such allegations of pressure, a spokesperson from the District Attorney’s office reiterated the office’s bail policy to the Journal and added that each case is viewed individually and that prosecutors have to follow the law.

In February 2022, the Los Angeles Association of Deputy District Attorneys announced that a staggering 97.9% of their members voted to recall Gascón.

Meanwhile, efforts continue to remove Gascón from office, much of it coming from within the District Attorney’s office. In February 2022, the Los Angeles Association of Deputy District Attorneys announced that a staggering 97.9% of their members voted to recall Gascón. Gascón has referred to the recall as being “Republican-led” and warned that it would “reverse all our progress.”

Two recall attempts have failed, but the second campaign still has a belated chance at success. This story dates to August 2022, when Gascón narrowly survived the second push for a recall petition even though more than 715,000 signatures were provided supporting such a vote. The California county’s registrar-recorder, Dean Logan, announced that enough of these signatures were “invalid” for the recall effort to fall just short of the minimum needed to move forward with the recall.

The campaign to recall Gascón has gone to court over the recall matter, challenging Logan’s invalidation of these nearly 200,000 signatures. 

The campaign to recall Gascón has gone to court over the matter, challenging Logan’s invalidation of these nearly 200,000 signatures. The case remains ongoing.

In a March 23 statement, the campaign blasted the County Registrar’s office for calling for a state investigation into “fraudulent” signatures allegedly submitted by the recall campaign, calling it an attempt at stonewalling.  

“This is nothing more than a last-ditch effort by Dean Logan to cover up the improper disqualification of thousands of valid signatures, which we ultimately intend to expose and challenge in court once the review is complete,” the Recall DA George Gascón Committee said.  

“This is nothing more than a last-ditch effort by Dean Logan to cover up the improper disqualification of thousands of valid signatures, which we ultimately intend to expose and challenge in court once the review is complete,” the Recall DA George Gascón Committee said.  “If anything warrants investigation by authorities, it is the registrar’s own egregious misconduct and disenfranchisement of Los Angeles County voters who are suffering under George Gascón.” 

A spokesperson from the County Registrar’s office told the Journal that the Recall Gascón’s press release was “full of innuendo and unsubstantiated/unqualified allegations. Our office has been and will continue to facilitate the recall proponents’ opportunity to review the petition review as provided by law.”

All this suggests an uncertain future for Gascón.  Three of his employees –– Hatami and Deputy District Attorneys John McKinney and Maria Ramirez –– have announced their candidacies to challenge Gascón when his term expires in 2024. Nathan Hochman (R), a former U.S. Assistant Attorney General who ran unsuccessfully against Democratic California Attorney General Rob Bonta in 2022, has also thrown his hat in the ring. He has been endorsed by former District Attorney Steve Cooley, one of the leading figures behind the recall campaign. Hochman, who last ran as a Republican against Bonta, is running for District Attorney as an Independent. 

The controversy over Gascón is part of a nationwide debate over the criminal justice system. Both sides agree that the criminal justice system is deeply flawed, but disagree about the nature of the core issues. On one side are reformers, who see the potential for the justice system to be a tool for increasing social justice agendas. These individuals will say that the core issues of the system as it stands are mass incarceration and a lack of racial equity. On the other side are “tough-on-crime” prosecutors, who think that “soft” policies create dangerous American cities by shuffling repeat offenders and violent criminals back onto the streets. And a great many critics fall somewhere in the middle.

“I think the public should have the opportunity to look at my work — I stand on my record, look at others, see what they have to offer, and at the end of the day, people will decide.” – George Gascón

Speaking about his re-election campaign in 2024, Gascón told Spectrum in March 2023: “I think the public should have the opportunity to look at my work — I stand on my record, look at others, see what they have to offer, and at the end of the day, people will decide.”

All Deputy District Attorneys quoted here spoke to the Journal on their own time and expressed their personal opinions that do not reflect those of the District Attorney’s office as a whole.