Jasper Wu, a 23-month-old boy, lost his life to a stray bullet while riding in his car seat.
[Ads /]
Nancy O'Malley was the DA at the time, and explained at a news conference, "It happened because two rival gangs were having a rolling gun battle on Highway 880."
EXCLUSIVE: Jasper Wu's family voices concerns over murder suspects' possible shorter sentences
EXCLUSIVE: Jasper Wu's family voices concerns over murder suspects' possible shorter sentences
Three men - Trevor Green, Johnny Jackson, and Ivory Bivens have their preliminary hearing on murder charges in three weeks. A member of the AAPI community asked Alameda County District Attorney Pamela Price for an update on the case, and Price sent this email Tuesday that reads in part, "Our office is currently working on a partnership with the Asian Law Caucus to support AAPI victims of violence in ways that open up broader possibilities for healing and non-carceral forms of accountability."
"Non-carceral"- meaning no jail time, even for violent criminals.
Norbert Chu served as Alameda County prosecutor for 35 years. He told the I-Team, "If I were Jasper's parents, I would be highly offended. And I would be very fearful."
Chu says, looking at that email, it is clear Price is paving the way for lesser charges and lesser sentencing in the Jasper Wu case. He called it "insulting."
[Ads /]
EXCLUSIVE: Former Alameda Co. prosecutor voices concerns, calls DA's policies dangerous
EXCLUSIVE: Former prosecutor voices concerns over DA Price's policies
Norbert Chu: "And in the tone to me is that somehow we're lesser victims, than other people. And that is, that's just stupefying."
Dan Noyes: "And you're lesser victims than the perpetrators."
Chu: "Exactly."
A spokesman for the Wu family sent us a statement saying under Price's plan, "There are almost no consequences due to no threat of severe punishments waiting. How would that restore public's faith in the justice system? How would the public feel safe?"
MORE: Judge rejects Alameda Co. DA's plea deal for murder defendant accused of killing 3 people
We also checked with the Asian Law Caucus, and they knew nothing about Price's email, saying the first meeting with her office was just introductory and had nothing to do with Jasper Wu. "I'm very confused about this," said the Caucus' executive director.
[Ads /]
Just two days ago, the I-Team's Dan Noyes had an exclusive interview with a prosecutor who quit the Alameda County DA's Office over Price's plans to drop sentencing enhancements, potentially even those in the Jasper Wu case.
Charly Weissenbach told us, "And to just do it as a knee jerk reaction without proper information is, I think really sad for the family and I think can result in injustice and can result in more people getting hurt. More gun battles down the freeway, right?"
In the email, Price insists no decision has been made about dropping enhancements in Jasper Wu's death. By the way, she has asked his parents to come in for a meeting next week.
Take a look at more stories by the ABC7 News I-Team.