The sweeping directives Los Angeles County District Attorney George Gascón issued on his first day in office are rankling longtime justice system officials, with the fight now playing out in some courtrooms.
Almost as soon as Gascón announced his reforms in his inaugural speech earlier this month, the powerful Association of Los Angeles Deputy District Attorneys representing hundreds of county prosecutors balked at the announcements. And several of the area’s largest police unions signaled shock and alarm at the changes, which would wipe out bail for thousands of defendants, eliminate most sentencing enhancements and end the death penalty.
Now, as the effects of Gascón’s orders ripple through the court system, a judge has pushed back, too. At least, at first.
In a Dec. 8 hearing at the Van Nuys Courthouse, Judge Shellie Samuels denied a deputy district attorney’s request to withdraw enhancements added to charges against four defendants. According to an email from Gascón’s second-in-command, Chief Deputy Joseph Iniguez, Samuels said during the hearing that she opposed the D.A.’s policies.
“The judge justified her denial by stating (in part) that she disagrees with the DA’s policy changes,” Iniguez wrote. “Based on this justification it shows that she is prejudiced against our office.”
As a result, Iniguez instructed the prosecutor to “ensure no other matters are assigned to her court.” The move, citing a section of the California code which would disqualify judges if they’re shown to be “prejudiced against a party or attorney,” is known as “papering” a judge.
NEW: Sources tell me this email from DA George Gascon’s Chief Deputy to a prosecutor is ordering “clear retaliation” against Judge Shellie Samuels for not complying w/ new reforms, by taking away cases from her court. I’m told this is known as “blanket papering” a judge. @FOXLA pic.twitter.com/w7H5QNsY2L
— Bill Melugin (@BillFOXLA) December 17, 2020
The email was first obtained by Fox 11. Maxwell Szabo, a Gascón spokesman, confirmed the email’s authenticity.
Szabo said the matter was worked out — the D.A.’s office did not actually file a complaint, and the judge eventually dismissed the enhancements as the prosecutor requested.
Samuels was not immediately available for comment. Calls to her courtroom went unanswered Thursday.
Still, such conflicts are likely to occur more and more as Gascón’s changes run into resistance in the L.A. County court system.
“This is the largest criminal justice system in the country,” Szabo said. “We are moving in a completely different direction. Understandably, that is coming as a shock to some.”
The D.A.’s new rule on sentencing enhancements, which would ban new filings and require prosecutors to withdraw those already filed under former D.A. Jackie Lacey, has been among the most controversial. Enhancements can add time to a defendant’s sentence if, for example, they committed a crime using a certain type of weapon, like a firearm, or committed the crime on behalf of a gang.
Most enhancements carry five year sentences, and can be served consecutively, in some cases adding decades to a convicted person’s prison time.
After reports of prosecutors resisting that order, Gascón’s office followed up with a new directive late Tuesday night, stating that dismissing such enhancement would balance “the rights of the defendant and those of society.”
“Additional punishment provided by sentencing enhancements or special allegations provide no deterrent effect or public safety benefit of incapacitation,” Gascón’s office wrote in the directive. “In fact, the opposite may be true, wasting critical financial state and local resources.”
The Los Angeles Police Protective League, which represents rank-and-file LAPD officers and supported Lacey for re-election, excoriated the order.
“Shorter prison terms for the worst offenders,” union officials wrote. “Gang members get out sooner to harass witnesses. The criminals-first agenda is real.”
ALADDA President Eric Siddall said deputy district attorneys have said they’re concerned over eliminating sentencing enhancements. The D.A.’s other changes, like ending bail requests, aren’t meeting the same resistance.
“I think we have other pressing issues right now,” Siddall said. “Bail is really an issue for the judges. It’s the judges who are really going to make the final determination.”
Civil rights advocates were elated by Gascón’s order this month for prosecutors to stop requesting bail for defendants accused of non-violent crimes. But bail for those offenses was already set at $0, a consequence of orders by California and county level courts responding to dangerous conditions in the state’s prisons and jails during the COVID-19 pandemic.
L.A. County Presiding Judge Kevin C. Brazile extended $0 bail indefinitely in June. Neither Brazile nor Gascón’s orders codify the end of cash bail in L.A. County, however. Permanent change would require a ballot measure or county legislation.
Charles Frisco, a Long Beach-based criminal defense attorney, said Gascon’s directives are a long time coming.
Frisco doesn’t see why money should be a factor for someone to be in custody. A defendant’s rap sheet — including prior acts of violence, or failures to appear in court — should be looked at instead, he said.
“It’s going to be interesting to see how it unfolds,” Frisco said. “And see the ripple effect it might have in other jurisdictions within the state and perhaps the United States.”