DA George Gascon sued by families of slain police officers

AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill

DA George Gascon failed to follow the law and as a result two police officers died. That’s the argument being leveled by the families of two El Monte police officers who were killed last June by a gang member who was on the street thanks to a plea deal made by Gascon’s office.

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Officers Michael Paredes and Joseph Santana were responding to a report of domestic violence at Siesta Inn in June when Justin Flores — a documented member of the Quiet Village gang with multiple prior convictions — shot them in the head.

In a civil suit filed Wednesday, Santana’s family alleged Flores should have been incarcerated on the day he killed the officers, but he was put in their path because of a combination of poor supervision by the Probation Department and a plea deal that was struck in 2021 as part of Gascón’s broad sentencing reforms…

At the time of the shootings, Flores was on probation as part of a plea deal struck in 2021 after he’d been arrested on suspicion of possession of a firearm and methamphetamine. With a prior burglary conviction, Flores could have faced several years in prison under California’s “three strikes” law.

But the prosecutor assigned to the case said he couldn’t seek the enhanced sentence because of one of many sweeping policy changes Gascón made on his first day in office, according to a document reviewed by The Times.

An LA judge ruled in February 2021 that Gascon was required to follow the three-strikes law. Gascon appealed that decision and it’s now going before the California Supreme Court. Reason published part of an amicus brief submitted in the case last week:

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District Attorney Gascón believes that the Three Strikes Law (Pen. Code, § 667, subd. (b)-(i)) mandates unfair sentences. That is his right. But his disagreement with the policy of a statute does not allow him, as an executive officer, to refuse to execute its terms. Gascón may choose not to bring the charges that trigger the Three Strikes Law, or he may choose to bring misdemeanors rather than felonies. But if he pleads and proves felony charges against defendants who fall under the Three Strikes Law, he must also seek the punishments required by statute. The process set out by the California Constitution for Gascón to pursue his policy disagreement with the Legislature is by persuading its members to amend the law, not to refuse to execute the law unilaterally.

Here’s a local news report which notes that the eventual decision by the California Supreme Court will likely have an impact on the outcome of the lawsuit.

There’s another story in the news today which reads like a variation on the theme of Gascon going easy on criminals until someone is dead. Last month a 40-year-old father of two named Dennis Banner was allegedly stabbed to death by 23-year-old Jade Simone Brookfield. At the time, Brookfield was in a mental health diversion program after a previous incident in which she stabbed a woman in the chest. But it’s actually worse than that because Gascon’s office had several other opportunities to realize its mistake, all of which it missed.

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Brookfield’s first encounter with Los Angeles police happened in the early spring of 2020, during Gascón’s first year in office. Brookfield was arrested for attempted murder after she stabbed a woman in the chest with a knife, puncturing her lung.

Prosecution of the crime was delayed into 2021 because of the COVID-19 pandemic. By then, the court reduced Brookfield’s charges to assault with a deadly weapon — still a felony charge that counts as one “strike” under California’s Three Strikes law — and prosecutors agreed to a deal where Brookfield was given mental health diversion instead of jail time.

A source said that Brookfield absconded and was initially terminated from the diversion program. However, she was permitted to re-enlist in diversion and was given another chance.

In September 2021, Brookfield was arrested for battery of a peace officer. She was again given a mental health diversion and Gascón’s office dismissed the case.

In December, she was arrested again, this time for pulling out a knife and threatening to kill a man. Gascon’s office rejected that case for lack of evidence.

In March of this year she was arrested once more for swinging a knife at a bus driver who missed her stop. Rather than revoke her participation in the diversion program, Gascon’s office gave her an ankle monitor and released her again. Her next arrest was for the murder of Mr. Banner. Finally, Gascon’s office did what it should have done in the first place and put Brookfield in jail.

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Here’s Bill Melugin’s report (2nd tweet below).

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