Los Angeles County District Attorney George Gascòn talks to Adrienne Alpert on Eyewitness Newsmakers, which aired Sunday, Feb. 7, 2021.
"The residents of Los Angeles County, they need a lot of prayers, because they are in big trouble right now with this district attorney," Spitzer said at a news conference Monday. "Those special directives are seriously misguided... It is a cookie cutter approach to justice and that has no place in our system."
But in a written statement, Gascón's office says the special enhancements were still in place, and Rasmuson was always facing life in prison.
"This was a heinous offense and this individual will not share the sidewalk with the rest of us," Gascón wrote. "The defendant was always facing life in prison, making the rhetoric from tough-on-crime voices incredibly dangerous and entirely removed from reality. Splitting this case up or seeking the death penalty in a state with a moratorium would have dragged the victims through decades of legal proceedings for an execution that is exceedingly unlikely to be imposed. Spending exorbitant amounts on a death penalty prosecution that is ultimately just for show would force the families of these victims to relive their trauma through decades of litigation. That's not in the interests of the victims, nor is it in the interests of the public."
Apartment giant Weidner teams with Rasmuson Foundation to buy properties adjacent to Brother Francis Shelter for new ‘resource hub’ Published February 19
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Print article Weidner Apartment Homes and the Rasmuson Foundation will purchase properties adjacent to Brother Francis Shelter in order to build a new “resource hub” to serve homeless people, and to end a long, bitter property dispute with a Ship Creek landowner. Weidner will buy parcels of land owned by Ron Alleva next to the Brother Francis Shelter on Third Avenue, as well as the building and property owned by Bean’s Cafe, the Weidner company said in a joint statement with the Rasmuson Foundation on Friday.