Photo: Araceli Martinez / Impremedia
As of this Friday, the collection of signatures that seeks to bring to a popular vote the dismissal of the current Los Angeles County prosecutor began formally s, the Latin George Gascón .
The campaign has a deadline to present a minimum of 579, 062 valid signatures of registered voters (10% of Total County Voters) through 27 October for the initiative to be voted on.
Gascón has received criticism from other prosecutors, as well as from victims of criminals, for various measures, that include not seeking the death penalty in any case and ruling out aggravating factors that would increase sentences.
Likewise, it has prevented juvenile offenders accused of serious crimes from facing the Justice as adults.
“George Gascón was elected after disguising a radical, dangerous and procriminal agenda as (if it were) a ‘criminal justice reform'”, said in a statement sent to Efe Desiree Andrade , spokesperson for the initiative to remove the prosecutor.
Andrade claimed that instead of an improvement, what Gascón has done is to favor “the most heinous criminals in our society at the expense of the victims, and let cold-blooded murderers return to the streets. ”
In a virtual message the 17 March on the occasion of his first 100 days as prosecutor, Gascón defended his decisions ensuring that “they are based on scientific data and will increase the safety of our communities while reducing racial disparities.”
In a statement to the the means, the relatives of Anthony Ávalos, the youngest of 10 years tortured and murdered by his mother and her boyfriend, criticized the decision of Gascón to withdraw their request to impose capital punishment for both of them.
According to the documents filed with the court, Anthony was struck against the floor of the house and whipped with a cable and a strap, he was prohibited using the bathroom for long periods and hot sauce was placed in his mouth, among other torture.
In August 2019, the Los Angeles District Attorney, then headed by Jackie Lacey , announced that I would ask for the death penalty in this case.
Without However, Gascón rejected the request for capital punishment against the murderers of the child, arguing that “a sentence death is never an adequate resolution in any case. ”
In February, Deputy Prosecutor Jon Hatami, with 15 years of experience at the Los Angeles Prosecutor’s Office, announced a legal complaint against Gascón claiming to have been defamed and racially discriminated against by the attorney general because of his Iranian origin.
Hatami was the lead prosecutor in the case of the minor Gabriel Fernández , which ended in a death sentence for the mother’s boyfriend and life imprisonment for her, and has been one of the main critics of the new measures imposed by Gascón.
Gabriel Fernández died on 23 March 2013 in Palmdale, North of Los Angeles, being in the custody of his mother, despite the fact that there had been 62 complaints of child abuse il against her and her boyfriend, according to the investigation of the case.
By the end of April, the councils of at least half a dozen cities in the county, including Beverly Hills, Lancaster, La Mirada, Pico Rivera, Santa Clarita and Whittier had approved a vote of “no confidence” against the attorney general.