Sacramento County DA criticizes Gascon, blocks jurisdiction on crimes there
LOS ANGELES -- Sacramento County's chief prosecutor has informed Los Angeles County District Attorney George Gascon that her office will no longer grant him jurisdiction over any crimes that involve Sacramento County.
"Your Special Directives are not just extreme but will undoubtedly wreak havoc on crime victims and their Constitutional rights," District Attorney Anne Marie Schubert said in a letter sent to Gascon's office on Monday. "Your lack of concern for their rights and safety concerns me greatly.
Additionally, because crime has no boundaries, these Special Directives will have far greater impact than on Los Angeles County alone," Schubert added. "Rather, victims across California will be negatively impacted and the safety of all Californians will be jeopardized."
When crimes occur in multiple counties, DAs from those respective counties must agree on the venue for prosecution.
LA County DA George Gascon discusses sentencing enhancements, money bail
Gascon's special directives, which were issued on Dec. 7, have been criticized by victims' advocates as too soft on crime.
In mid-December, Gascon reversed course and issued a memo allowing deputy DAs to seek sentencing enhancements for hate crimes, child abuse, elder abuse, sexual assault, sex trafficking and certain financial crimes.
He said at the time that he was amending his original directive "to allow enhanced sentences in cases involving the most vulnerable victims and in specified extraordinary circumstances. These exceptions shall be narrowly construed."
Gascon did not immediately responded to a request for comment. He defended his directives in a Dec. 29 interview with KABC.
"One of the things that I promised people from the very beginning, I had a clear platform," Gascon said. "I think that often we have become so cynical -- we're used to people running for office telling us one thing and then when they get elected doing another thing.
"I wanted to make sure that in my case that would never be it."
