Jackie Lacey Preliminary Research

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Jackie Lacey

Preliminary Research

January 6, 2019

“[Lacey’s] decision suggests that no matter how egregious an officer’s conduct is, no matter the evidence she has before her, she does not intend to hold any officer accountable for unnecessarily and inexplicably shooting a member of the public." - ACLU SoCal

"Lacey’s talk about treatment not cells for the mentally ill is meaningless until she and her prosecutors implement real change in LA’s courtrooms." - Nikhil Ramnaney, President of the LA County Public Defenders Union, AFSCME Local 148

Table of Contents

Jackie Lacey 1

Preliminary Research 1

Table of Contents 3

Strategic Vulnerability Assessment 9

Highlights 13

Crime Under Lacey Highlights 13

District Attorney’s Office Budget Highlights 13

Sexual Harassment and Assault Highlights 13

Racial Justice Highlights 15

Police Violence Highlights 15

Out of Step on Criminal Justice Reform Highlights 16

Cashing in on Cash Bail Highlights 17

Corruption and Conflict of Interest Highlights 17

Mass Incarceration Highlights 18

Immigration Highlights 18

Seniors Highlights 18

Campaign Finance Highlights 18

Questionable Donors Highlights 19

Personal Finance Highlights 20

Land and Legal Records Highlights 20

Background 21

Education 21

Professional History 21

Political History 21

Media Summary 22

Crime Under Lacey 24

Crime Under Lacey Highlights 24

Proposition 47 Crimes 24

Crimes Involving a Firearm 26

Violent Crime 27

Failed to Charge Diddy with Assault 28

District Attorney’s Office Budget 29

District Attorney’s Office Budget Highlights 29

Expenditures 29

Compensation 30

Sexual Harassment and Assault 32

Sexual Harassment and Assault Highlights 32

Failed to Address Sexual Harassment in Her Office 33

Failed to Prosecute Sexual Abusers 35

2018: Lacey Filed Charges in Only 188 of 815 Rape Cases Reported 35

Lacey’s Task Force on Sexual Abuse in the Entertainment Industry Filed No Charges in First Year 35

Lacey Waited Almost Two Years to Act on Allegations Against Harvey Weinstein 36

Lacey Fails to Prosecute Contributor Ed Buck, Federal Prosecutors Step In 40

Lacey Failed to Charge Beverly Hills Yoga Guru Bikram Choudhury 43

Lacey Failed to Prosecute Cosby for Los Angeles Sexual Assaults 45

Lacey Failed to Prosecute Danny Masterson for Rape Despite 'Overwhelming Evidence' 45

Lacey Declined to Charge Sylvester Stallone with Sexual Assault 47

Lacey Declined to Charge TV Exec Les Moonves for Sex Abuse 47

Lacey Declined to Charge Michael Avenatti for Domestic Violence, Referred to City Attorneys 48

Lacey Declined to Prosecute Former Police Officer for 40-Hour Attack 48

Racial Justice 50

Racial Justice Highlights 50

Racial Disparity 50

Racial Bias in Prosecutions 51

Hostility Towards BLM 54

Police Violence 57

Police Violence Highlights 57

Lacey 'Allowing Police to Get Away with Murder' 57

Recall Lacey Effort 62

Body Cameras 63

Prison Violence 64

Out of Step on Criminal Justice Reform 65

Out of Step on Criminal Justice Reform Highlights 65

Opposed Legalizing Marijuana 65

'Full Bore in the Prosecution' of Mental Illness 66

Devoted to the Death Penalty 69

Opposed Parole and Supervision Reform 71

Limited Conviction Review 72

Supported Expanding Wiretaps 73

Accusations of Office Lacking Transparency 74

Cashing in on Cash Bail 75

Cashing in on Cash Bail Highlights 75

Opposed to Ending Cash Bail 75

Accepted Nearly $8k from the Bail Industry 78

Corruption and Conflict of Interest 82

Corruption and Conflict of Interest Highlights 82

Failure to Prosecute Corruption 82

Accepting Gifts from Pro-Police Sources 86

Preferential Treatment 87

Conflicting Testimony 88

Retaliation Against Rival 89

Irresponsible Employment Practices 89

Child Abuse Issues 90

Giving a Free Rein to Corruption in Malibu 90

Mass Incarceration 93

Mass Incarceration Highlights 93

LA ‘World’s Largest Jail System' 93

Immigration 94

Immigration Highlights 94

Protecting Witnesses from Deportation 94

Seniors 95

Seniors Highlights 95

Elder Abuse 95

Campaign Finance 96

Campaign Finance Highlights 96

Financial Summary as of June 30, 2019 96

Questionable Disbursements 97

Questionable Donors 98

Questionable Donors Highlights 98

Cash from Criminals 98

Republican Connections 102

Attorneys 103

Attorneys for Harvey Weinstein 107

Law Enforcement 108

Media Companies 111

Politicians 112

Unions 112

Celebrities 113

Personal Finance 114

Personal Finance Highlights 114

Earned Income 114

Gifts 114

Land and Legal Records 119

Land and Legal Records Highlights 119

Land Records 119

119

120

Strategic Vulnerability Assessment

This vulnerability memo is our opinion of the facts regarding Jackie Lacey and their gravity. We have tried to characterize the derogatory information in this memo section as it will be characterized by Jackie Lacey's opponents. Please refer to the detailed information in the following chapters for supporting documentation.

Rising Crime with Rising Costs

Despite painting herself as a tough-on-crime prosecutor, numerous crime rates have increased in Los Angeles County during Lacey's tenure as District Attorney. From 2012 to 2018, incidents of crimes involving a firearm increased 11.33 percent. In addition, the violent crime rate in Los Angeles increased 29.46 percent from 2012 to 2018, while it decreased in San Francisco by 1.9 percent. While the murder rate per 100,000 inhabitants decreased in Los Angeles by 6.6 percent in that same time period, the murder rate decreased by 38.5 percent in San Francisco County.

As crime has risen in LA with Lacey at the helm, so too has her office budget, leaving her vulnerable to accusations of mismanagement. From 2012 to 2019, budgeted expenditures for the District Attorney's office increased 35.71 percent, from $330,055,578.68 to $447,930,000. In addition, despite failing to bring down crime, the average compensation for employees of the District Attorney's office increased 19.05 percent, from $139,122.85 in 2012 to $181,099.24 in 2019. All together, Lacey is vulnerable to the accusation that her administration is costing Los Angeles without bringing results.

Giving a Pass to Sexual Assaulters and Rapists

One of the biggest stains on the Lacey administration is the consistent pattern of turning a blind eye to sexual harassment, even within her own office. In 2017, Lacey's office "was beginning to wrestle with its own #MeToo moment," after Edward Miller, a “star prosecutor with the Public Integrity Unit,” was “accused of aggressively pursuing his female colleague for more than 2 1/2 years.” In an e-mail, a member of the department stated to Lacey, "I don’t feel that this office is expending any effort to ensure my safety and the safety of others related to this investigation.” In 2017, two prosecutors in Lacey's office received $700,000 to settle a 2015 lawsuit alleging that their supervisor "[subjected] them to regular harassment and [fostered] an abusive, sexually charged workplace." The victims also claimed that "they were penalized for rejecting Hearsberger's advances while female prosecutors who tolerated the

harassment were rewarded with high-profile cases." In total since 2014, "19 male and eight female employees [of the L.A. County District Attorney’s Office] have been accused of sexual harassment."

Lacey has also failed to charge numerous high profile men with assault and rape, including yoga guru Bikhram Choudhury, Bill Cosby, actor Danny Masterson, Sylvester Stallone, and TV executive Les Moonves. Despite having knowledge of three sexual abuse cases involving Harvey Weinstein in 2018 and considering a total of eight cases involving Harvey Weinstein in 2019, Lacey's office neglected to bring charges against Weinstein until his New York City sexual assault trial began in January 2020. In addition, Lacey declined to bring charges against Ed Buck, a campaign contributor, for the 2017 overdose death of Gemmel Moore, who was found dead in Buck’s home. After Moore's death, another man died of a drug overdose in Buck's apartment, and a third man almost died before escaping the apartment. In 2019, Moore's mother filed a wrongful death lawsuit against Buck and Lacey over her son's death, claiming that the county "failed to properly investigate Gemmel Moore's death because of his race."

Enabling a Racist System

Despite being the first African American district attorney of Los Angeles County, Lacey is vulnerable to accusations that her policies are detrimental to LA's black population. In 2019, an ACLU report found that since Lacey took office as Los Angeles District Attorney, "every defendant who has been sentenced to death in [Los Angeles County] is a person of color." Similarly, Advancement Project-California found that "the incarceration rate for African Americans in Los Angeles County is 13 times more than that for whites" in 2017. Due to these racial disparities, Lacey has clashed frequently with Black Lives Matter protestors, who have consistently demanded better from her office. In particular, BLM activists claimed Lacey met them "with hostility" and that she was a "black face on white supremacy."

As with her approach to prosecuting sexual assault and rape, Lacey has turned a blind eye to police shootings of black men. In 2019, a Los Angeles times op-ed noted that Lacey "has fallen short" in addressing violence by police, explaining, "the D.A.’s office has repeatedly declined to charge police officers in fatal shootings of unarmed black people, including in one case in which then-Los Angeles police chief Charlie Beck said the officer should be criminally prosecuted." In that case, a police officer, Clifford Proctor, shot and killed Brendon Glenn, an "unarmed, black homeless" man because he claimed he saw Glenn "reaching for another officer's gun." However, the other officer on the scene said "he had no idea why Proctor pulled the trigger." The ACLU criticized Lacey's inaction, stating, "Her decision suggests that no matter how egregious an officer’s conduct is, no matter the evidence she has before her, she does not intend to hold any officer accountable for unnecessarily and inexplicably shooting a member of the public."

Failing on Criminal Justice Reform

Like victims of sexual assault and people of color, Lacey has also failed the mentally ill during her tenure as district attorney. Although Lacey promised a "benign, therapeutic approach" to the mentally ill, critics accused her of instead going "full bore" in prosecutions by training prosecutors how to fight mental health defenses and "charging people with mental illnesses with new crimes once they are detained." The results are damning: 30 percent of Los Angeles County inmates are mentally ill, and Los Angeles County reports the largest population of mentally ill inmates in the country. Lacey has often touted her creation of a new division devoted to serving the mentally ill, however the unit "only has about two staffers," and mental health advocates claimed her program was "leaving out the people who need it the most.” A January 2020 op-ed by the President of the LA County Public Defenders Union Nikhil Ramnaney echoes these issues, claiming "Lacey’s talk about treatment not cells for the mentally ill is meaningless until she and her prosecutors implement real change in LA’s courtrooms."

In addition to prosecuting the mentally ill, Lacey has widely pursued the death penalty, with Los Angeles sentencing more people to death from 2014 to 2019 than all but one other county in the U.S., and more than the states of Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi, Tennessee, and Virginia combined. In 2019, Lacey even "continued to seek the death penalty" despite California Governor Gavin Newson's "moratorium on capital punishment."

Continuing a History of Corruption

If Los Angeles voters want a district attorney who will whole-heartedly prosecute corruption and increase government transparency, Lacey is not their candidate. On multiple occasions Lacey's office has been accused of mishandling corruption cases and evidence, including when her office "blew it" and "undermined their own case" when prosecuting corruption cases against three Irwindale officials in 2016. That same year, Lacey's Public Integrity Division committed a "series of blunders" when prosecuting Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum officials for over $2 million in bribes and kickbacks. Subsequently, the accused were allowed to plead no contest to misdemeanor counts, and Superior Court Judge Kathleen Kennedy said Lacey's division "seemed incapable of handling complex prosecutions involving large numbers of documents."

In addition to pure negligence, Lacey's office has been accused of actively participating in corrupt schemes. In 2018, a warrant was authorized to raid the properties and businesses of Malibu Mayor pro-tem Jefferson Wagner two days after Wagner was the "only dissenting vote on the City Manager’s contract amidst a brewing scandal at City Hall." The City Manager, Reva Feldman, had a "relationship with a close relative of Villaraigosa," and Villaraigosa "personally sought to persuade [Wagner] and two

other council members to renew the City Manager’s contract with the City." A public corruption specialist spoke on the warrant issued against Wagner, stating that the DA's actions appear to "be a clear exercise in intimidation and an excessive show of force or color of authority."

Highlights

Crime Under Lacey Highlights ● From 2012 to 2018, during Lacey's tenure as District Attorney of Los Angeles, incidents of crimes impacted by Proposition 47 (not including drug possession), such as shoplifting and petty theft, decreased across the board. ● Crimes involving a firearm increased 11 percent during Lacey's tenure as District Attorney. ● Violent crime increased in Los Angeles by 29.46 percent during Lacey's tenure, and the murder rate decreased slower in Los Angeles than it did in San Francisco during the same time period. However, The Sacramento Bee reported that violent crime rates have declined in Los Angeles since 1985, with the exception of rape, which could be attributed to broader definitions of rape and higher willingness of victims to report.

District Attorney’s Office Budget Highlights ● Budgeted expenditures in the Los Angeles District Attorney's Office increased 35.71 percent under Lacey's leadership. ● The average spending per employee in the Los Angeles District Attorney's Office, including salary and benefits, increased 19.05% under Lacey.

● Lacey established a task force to respond to allegations of sexual abuse in the entertainment industry in November 2017. However, the task force had yet to bring charges in any cases as of October 2018. ● Lacey waited almost two years to bring charges against accused serial sexual predator Harvey Weinstein despite her office's consideration of three investigations of Weinstein in 2018 alone and a total of eight investigations of Weinstein in 2019. Lacey's office pressed charges in January 2020 upon the start of Weinstein's criminal sexual assault trial in New York. ● Lacey’s office declined to bring charges against Ed Buck, a campaign contributor, for the 2017 overdose death of Gemmel Moore, found dead in Buck’s home. Since Lacey’s office declined to bring charges in 2017, one other man died of a drug overdose in Buck’s apartment, and another almost died before escaping. In September 2019, a Los Angeles judge allowed a wrongful death lawsuit against Buck and Lacey to move forward, which alleged Lacey "botched" the investigation into Moore's death, and that her decision not to bring charges against Buck is evidence of "widespread and persistent" racial bias against prosecuting crimes against Black victims. ● A 2019 Netflix documentary detailed accusations that yoga guru Bikhram Choudhury had a pattern of sexual misconduct, sometimes violent. However, Lacey's office declined to file criminal charges against Bikram, arguing there was insufficient evidence. ● Lacey declined to prosecute Bill Cosby for two alleged sexual assaults in Los Angeles. Bill Cosby was accused of sexual assault by more than 60 women, and was sentenced to three to ten years prison in 2018 for the sexual assault of Andrea Constand. ● Lacey failed to prosecute actor Danny Masterson for allegedly drugging and raping four women despite what law enforcement described as "overwhelming evidence." ● Lacey declined to file sexual assault charges against Sylvester Stallone, citing "no new witnesses and insufficient evidence," and highlighting that the victim has a previously consensual relationship with Stallone before the alleged assault. ● Lacey declined to charge TV executive Les Moonves with sex crimes, despite abuse claims made by two women, citing expired statute of limitations. ● Lacey declined to bring felony domestic violence charges against attorney Michael Avenatti, but referred the case to city attorneys for misdemeanor charges. ● In 2017, Lacey declined to bring charges against a former police officer who allegedly drugged and raped a woman in a 40-hour attack, citing that "victim and suspect are acquaintances." Lacey responded to the case by saying, "at times we may in fact be letting someone go that we feel in our heart of hearts is guilty, but we don't have the evidence."

Racial Justice Highlights

● A 2019 ACLU report showed that since Lacey took office as Los Angeles District Attorney, "every defendant who has been sentenced to death in [Los Angeles County] is a person of color." This report was referenced in an open letter to Lacey written by a group of scholars and law professors who urged her to "stop seeking the death penalty" due to this perceived racial disparity. ● In 2017, Advancement Project-California found that "the incarceration rate for African Americans in Los Angeles County is 13 times more than that for whites." ● Lacey's office declined to charge multiple LAPD officers who shot and killed Black men, including unarmed victims with mental illness including suicidal ideation. In 2019, a Los Angeles times op-ed said Lacey "has fallen short" in addressing violence by police, explaining, "the D.A.’s office has repeatedly declined to charge police officers in fatal shootings of unarmed black people, including in one case in which then-Los Angeles police chief Charlie Beck said the officer should be criminally prosecuted." ● Lacey clashed multiple times with Black Lives Matter activists who claimed she met them "with hostility" and that she was a "black face on white supremacy." In October 2018, BLM activists protested a "lack of dialogue with Lacey over police violence" in front of Lacey's house a year after Lacey "walked out on a crowd...who were protesting Lacey's inaction."

● In 2017, Lacey's office announced that they would not "criminally charge two Los Angeles police officers who shot and killed Ezell Ford," a mentally ill black man. After the announcement, a group of civil rights activists and clergymen launched an effort to recall Lacey. ● In 2018, Lacey "had harsh words" for a proposal to require the public release of LAPD officers' body camera and patrol car footage, as well as other LAPD images and recordings of "critical incidents." However, Matt Johnson, the vice president of the Police Commission, said he thought the measure would "go a long way in helping build public trust though a significant increase in transparency."

Out of Step on Criminal Justice Reform Highlights ● Lacey opposed Proposition 64, which legalized recreational marijuana despite the fact that 59.5 percent of Los Angeles voters supported the measure. The Fair Punishment Project argued Lacey utilized "scare tactics" to discourage support for Prop 64 by warning, without evidence, the law would make it more difficult to convict cases of driving under the influence. ● Though Lacey promised a "benign, therapeutic approach" to the mentally ill, critics say she has instead gone "full bore" in prosecutions, training prosecutors how to fight mental health defenses and "charging people with mental illnesses with new crimes once they are detained." 30 percent of Los Angeles County inmates are mentally ill, and Los Angeles County reports the largest population of mentally ill inmates in the country. ● Los Angeles sentenced more people to death from 2014 to 2019 than all but one other county in the U.S., and more than the states of Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi, Tennessee and Virginia combined. Despite this, Lacey supported Proposition 66, a ballot measure to maintain and expedite the death penalty, which Los Angeles voters opposed by 50.6%. ● In 2016, Lacey opposed Proposition 57, which would allow parole consideration for nonviolent felons. Lacey reportedly feared the parole board would be "very liberal" about parole recommendations, and that the proposition "contained loopholes that allowed some rapists the same benefits of early release from prison as drug dealers." Los Angeles County voted in favor of the proposition by 67.7 percent. ● In 2015, families of shooting victims sued Lacey for recommending a defendant enter a drug diversion program despite a "lengthy history of convictions and a recommendation to the contrary by the Probation Department," after which the defendant fatally shot four people. ● Lacey established a conviction review panel, which she uses as an example of "ensuring the fair and ethical pursuit of justice," that legal scholars said would "eliminate the opportunity to exonerate" convicts coerced into false confessions.

● Lacey supported Senate Bill 439, which would "substantially expand how wiretaps are used in California" by allowing law enforcement to intercept electronic communications such as emails and Facebook chats, even of those who didn't commit crimes.

Cashing in on Cash Bail Highlights ● In April 2017, Lacey's office issued a letter expressing opposition to cash bail reform legislation Senate Bill 10, writing that the changes are "so dramatic it is difficult to determine what real world impacts these changes will have on California's criminal justice system." However, after working with Senator Hertzberg to recommend changes to SB 10, Lacey announced her support for the final version of SB10 and a commitment to continue collaborating with lawmakers on bail reform in September 2019. ● In February 2019, the Los Angeles Times remarked it was "disheartening" that Lacey opposed cash bail reform, given Los Angeles had a higher incarceration rate than the state average. Lacey responded that she opposed provisions of the original bail reform bill in question, which she implied jeopardized safety. ● Lacey accepted nearly $8,000 from the bail industry since 2011, including bail bonds companies, owners, and agents.

● In 2010 and 2009 "Lacey gave conflicting testimony under oath" which she blamed on "blood sugar issues." She reportedly said in 2010, "That afternoon [in 2009] I was really tired and I just, obviously, was confused...I have blood-sugar issues in the afternoon where I lose concentration quite a bit." ● In 2018, a public corruption specialist accused Lacey's office of using "intimidation and an excessive show of force" on Malibu Mayor pro-tem Jefferson Wagner, who was the "only dissenting vote on the City Manager’s contract amidst a brewing scandal at City Hall." The City Manager, Reva Feldman, had a "relationship with a close relative of Villaraigosa," and Villaraigosa "personally sought to persuade [Wagner] and two other council members to renew the City Manager’s contract with the City." One year later, Lacey's office was again accused of treating Malibu elected officials as if they were "immune to prosecution" when the head of the Public Integrity Division displayed "bias" on a criminal complaint against Malibu council members Skylar Peak and Rick Mullen.

Mass Incarceration Highlights ● In 2016 Los Angeles County sent 608.5 people to state person per 100,000 residents compared to the state average of 486, making the county's jail system the "world's largest."

Immigration Highlights ● In 2019, Lacey reversed her office's opposition to a piece of legislation that prevented "deportation for nonviolent drug offenders in California," with her office arguing that "these protections for immigrants were unconstitutional." Lacey's spokesman said the "office's effort was 'strictly limited to legal analysis'" after a year of "legal wrangling" over the issue.

Seniors Highlights ● In 2015, Lacey declined to file elder abuse charges against radio personality Casey Kasem's widow, who reportedly removed him from "around-the-clock care" and placed him in a friend's house where he later died.

Campaign Finance Highlights ● As of June 30, 2019, Lacey's campaign raised $338,385, spent $134,957.49, and had $333,749.86 cash on hand.

● In 2019, Lacey "cut ties" with the Pluvious Group, a political fundraiser, after learning of the organization's involvement with the Trump campaign. Trey Kozacik of the Pluvious Group previously sent fundraiser emails for Lacey's campaign and "his name appeared on a flier promoting a $1,500-per-person event at a downtown sushi restaurant in support of Lacey’s reelection bid."

Questionable Donors Highlights ● In 2019, the Los Angeles Times reported that “Many giving to Lacey are longtime contributors to local politicians, but others include people accused of serious crimes or misconduct, or relatives and associates of the accused." Lacey's contributors reportedly included "the parents of a Sherman Oaks man awaiting a murder trial, a chiropractor facing insurance fraud charges in Orange County, a felon from Sun Valley convicted of trying to smuggle missile parts to Iran and a Glendale used car dealer previously sanctioned for an illegal campaign donation." ● In 2018, Lacey accepted $1,500 Jason Post of the Post Financial Group. In 2014, Post contributed $3,600 to the campaign of Republican Tony Strickland, who paid a $40,000 fine after "admitting that he arranged for supporters to bypass voter-approved contribution limits during his 2010 race for state controller." ● In 2018, Lacey accepted $1,500 from attorney Rayford Fountain. In 2011, Fountain was the defense attorney for Frank Chung, a California tutor who allegedly molested three girls at the tutoring center he owned. ● In 2019, Lacey accepted $1,500 each from attorneys Bill Seki and Andrew Pongracz of Seki, Nishimura & Watase LLP. The Los Angeles Times reported in July 2017 that Seki and Pongracz represented Robert Cain, a Los Angeles police officer "charged with sexually assaulting a 15-year-old girl who was a cadet." ● In 2019, Lacey accepted $1,500 from Patricia Glaser, an attorney representing Harvey Weinstein, and accepted $1,000 from Blair Berk, another attorney for Weinstein. According to Berk, "[The # MeToo movement is] also really dangerous because with that comes this horrible slogan ‘believe women’ as if some gender, by definition, only speaks the truth." ● Lacey accepted $3,000 from the Association for LA Deputy Sheriffs. In 2017, the Association sued to stop the release of a list of "about 300 deputies with histories of dishonesty and similar misconduct."

Personal Finance Highlights

● From 2013 to 2018, Lacey earned $2,998,355.78 as District Attorney of Los Angeles. In 2018, she earned $397,800 and received $125,738 in benefits. ● Between 2012 and 2018, Lacey received $19,368.46 in gifts, including a $400 sweater, a $400 suit, a $295 crystal gavel, and $452 in tickets to the Walt Disney Concert Hall.

Land and Legal Records Highlights ● In 2012, Lacey and her husband purchased in Granada Hills, California for $685,000. The 3,156 square foot home is estimated to be worth $1,095,458 in 2019. ● In 2018, Lacey's husband, David Allan Lacey, and Millicent Wirt and Clifford Lacey, as Co-Trustees of the Aaron Charles Lacey and Ophelia Lorraine Lacey Family Trust, granted to David Lacey, Millicent Wirt, and Clifford Lacey two properties: One located at in Los Angeles, California, and a second located at in Los Angeles, California. David Lacey then granted his "title and interest" in the properties to David Allan Lacey, trustee of the D and J Lacey Family Trust

Background

● Name: Jacquelyn "Jackie" Lacey ● Date of Birth: 2/27/1957 ● Family: David Lacey, spouse; April, daughter; Kareem, son ● Political Experience: Los Angeles District Attorney (2012-) ● Professional Experience: Los Angeles County District Attorney's Office, Deputy District Attorney; Los Angeles County District Attorney's Office, Chief Deputy District Attorney ● Military Experience: N/A ● Education: B.A. in Psychology, University of California, Irvine (1979); J.D., University of Southern California Law School (1982)

Education

Lacey earned a Psychology degree from UC Irvine in 1979. According to her LinkedIn profile, Lacey received a Bachelor's degree in Psychology from the University of California, Irvine in 1979. [LinkedIn “Jackie Lacey", Accessed 12/18/2019]

Lacey earned a law degree from USC in 1982. According to her LinkedIn profile, Lacey received a law degree from the University of Southern California Law School in 1982. [LinkedIn “Jackie Lacey", Accessed 12/18/2019]

Professional History

Lacey worked in LA County DA's office from 1986 to 2011. According to the University of Southern California, Lacey "joined the L.A. County D.A.’s Office in 1986 as a deputy district attorney." Reportedly, Lacey "took on management and executive roles in the office beginning in 2000 and was named chief deputy district attorney in 2011." [University of Southern California, 10/28/2014]

Political History

Lacey elected LA County DA in 2012. In November 2012, NBC Los Angeles reported that Lacey “established a comfortable lead over fellow prosecutor Alan Jackson Tuesday night on her way to become the first African-American and woman to lead the Los Angeles County D.A.'s office." Lacey "was ahead of her opponent Alan Jackson, the assistant head deputy of the Major Crimes Division, 55 percent to 45 percent with about 43 percent of precincts reporting". Reportedly, "Lacey touts her administrative experience, her 26-years in the DA’s Office, rising through the ranks from a front-line prosecutor to the second in command of the office." [NBC Los Angeles, 11/6/2012]

Media Summary

● "L.A. prosecutor declines to charge Cosby over allegations by 2 women," [Reuters, 1/6/2016] ● "Social workers blast DA Jackie Lacey for prosecuting colleagues," [Los Angeles Daily News, 4/12/2016] ● "The Coliseum case is the latest embarrassment for D.A.'s corruption unit," [Los Angeles Times, 8/6/2016] ● "Jewelry, wine, clothing and sports tickets: D.A. collects more than $10,000 worth of gifts," [Los Angeles Times, 8/28/2016] ● "Los Angeles County D.A.'s office sees a big drop in the number of public corruption prosecutions," [Los Angeles Times, 4/8/2017] ● "Enough! Los Angeles Activists To Confront District Attorney For Failing To Prosecute Cops," [News One, 1/23/2018] ● "Readers React: Jackie Lacey reinforces the dangerous belief that cops are above the law," [Los Angeles Times, 3/14/2018] ● "If D.A. Jackie Lacey won’t charge the LAPD officer who shot Brendon Glenn, some ask: When would she prosecute?" [Los Angeles Times, 3/18/2018] ● "Black Lives Matter LA protesters ask: Where is DA Jackie Lacey on police violence?" [Los Angeles Daily News, 10/25/2018] ● "Confronting Jackie Lacey: The Mamas of Those Slain by Police Demand Justice during Black History Month," [Los Angeles Sentinel, 2/21/2019] ● "Op-Ed: Criminal justice reform is sweeping the country. But not L.A. County," [Los Angeles Times, 2/27/2019] ● "Donors to D.A. Jackie Lacey included a murder suspect’s parents and a felon," [Los Angeles Times, 3/18/2019] ● "L.A. Prosecutor Touts Her Mental Health Reforms, But Critics Say She's Making the Crisis Worse," [The Appeal, 6/7/2019]

● "Jackie Lacey must stop standing in the way of justice reform," [Los Angeles Daily News, 6/17/2019] ● "Under D.A. Jackie Lacey, only people of color have been sentenced to death, report says," [Los Angeles Times, 6/18/2019] ● "Jackie Lacey's Legacy is 'Unfair and Discriminatory' Advocates Say," [The Appeal, 6/19/2019] ● "Gavin Newsom, Condemn DA Jackie Lacey’s Continued Pursuit of the Death Penalty," [LA Progressive, 7/10/2019] ● "ACLU’s report on Los Angeles DA Jackie Lacey’s shameful death penalty record," [Death Penalty Focus, 7/11/2019] ● "Activists Urging Lacey to ‘Do Her Job’ in Second Ed Buck Death," [Los Angeles Sentinel, 7/25/2019] ● "Prosecutors allege sexual harassment retribution at Los Angeles County DA’s Office," [Los Angeles Daily News, 8/16/2019] ● "Mother of Man Who Died at Ed Buck’s Home in 2017 Criticizes DA Jackie Lacey," [KTLA 5, 9/25/2019] ● "LA Top Prosecutor’s ‘Concern’ for Mental Illness Doesn’t Pass Scrutiny," [Filter, 10/3/2019] ● "How LA District Attorney Jackie Lacey Failed the Victims of Ed Buck," [City Watch, 10/10/2019] ● "Black Lives Matter protest challenges L.A. District Attorney Jackie Lacey's re-election bid," [Fox 11, 10/23/2019] ● "DA Jackie Lacey Blames Everyone Else For Why It Took So Long To Charge Ed Buck," [News One, 11/1/2019] ● "Stonewall to DA Jackie Lacey: Restore trust or resign," [Los Angeles Blade, 11/1/2019] ● "A DA wanted to strip the rights of noncitizens. Then reporters started asking questions," [Daily Kos, 11/1/2019] ● "How District Attorney Jackie Lacey Failed Los Angeles," [The Appeal, 11/12/2019] ● "Rare exoneration in Los Angeles highlights DA's lagging record on overturning wrongful convictions," [Daily Kos, 12/6/2019] ● "Los Angeles County’s District Attorney Must Go, and Here’s Why," [Truth Dig, 12/7/2019]

Crime Under Lacey

Proposition 47 Crimes

Incidents of crimes reclassified by Proposition 47, not including drug possession, decreased in Los Angeles during Lacey’s tenure, including after Proposition 47 passage. According to data from the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s department, incidents of crimes affected by Proposition 47, including shoplifting, forgery, insufficient funds, petty theft, and receiving stolen property all decreased from 2012 to 2018, during Lacey’s tenure as District Attorney, and also decreased from 2014, the year Proposition 47 was passed, to 2018:

Year # Shoplifting # Forgery # Insufficient # Petty Theft # Receiving Incidents Incidents Funds Incidents Incidents Stolen Property Incidents 2012 6,582 2,016 77 18,196 366 2014 6,606 1,859 90 17,572 300 2018 5,756 1,852 67 16,214 200 Change 2012-2018 -826 -164 -10 -1,982 -166 % Change -12.55% -8.13% -12.99% -10.89% -45.36% 2012-2018 Change 2014-2018 -850 -7 -23 -1,358 -100 % Change -12.87% -.38% -25.56% -7.73% -33.33% 2014-2018

Reporting categories included in this analysis include:

● Shoplifting: o GRAND THEFT: Shoplifting (From Dept Store, Mkt Gas Sta) o THEFT, PETTY: Shoplifting (From Dept Store, Mkt, Etc) ● Forgery: o Reasonable Cause Arrests: Forgery o WORTHLESS DOCUMENTS/FORGERY: Forgery - Checks/Money Orders o WORTHLESS DOCUMENTS/FORGERY: Forgery - Credit Cards/Sales Slips o WORTHLESS DOCUMENTS/FORGERY: Forgery - Other o WORTHLESS DOCUMENTS/FORGERY: Possess of Completed Checks/Money Order ● Insufficient Funds: o WORTHLESS DOCUMENTS/FORGERY: NSF/Account Closed/Checks - Over $200 o WORTHLESS DOCUMENTS/FORGERY: NSF/Account Closed/Checks-$200 or Less ● Petty Theft: o THEFT, PETTY: Auto Parts And Accessories o THEFT, PETTY: Bicycles o THEFT, PETTY: From Auto (Except Parts/Accessories) o THEFT, PETTY: From Bldgs (Church, School, Restaurant) o THEFT, PETTY: From Coin Operated Machine o THEFT, PETTY: Other (From Prvt Res, Boat, Plane,Yard) o THEFT, PETTY: Shoplifting (From Dept Store, Mkt, Etc) ● Receiving Stolen Property: RECEIVING STOLEN PROPERTY: Receiving Stolen Property

[Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department, Incidents Part I and Part II Crimes, 2012; 2014; 2018; All years, Accessed 12/9/2019]

Crimes Involving a Firearm

Incidents of crimes involving a firearm increased 11 percent under Lacey's leadership. According to data from the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s department, incidents of crimes involving a firearm increased 11.33 percent from 2012 to 2018, during Lacey's tenure as District Attorney.

Year Incidents of Crimes Involving a Firearm 2012 1112 2018 1238 Change 2012-2018 126 % Change 2012-2018 11.33%

Reporting categories included in this analysis include:

● FIREARM RELATED INCIDENTS (not reported in 2012 data) ● WEAPON LAWS: FIREARM W/NARCOTICS: Felony ● ASSAULT, AGGRAVATED: ADW - GUN ● ASSAULT, AGGRAVATED: ADW, PEACE OFFICER - GUN

[Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department, Incidents Part I and Part II Crimes, 2012; 2018; All years, Accessed 12/9/2019]

Violent Crime

Violent crime increased in Los Angeles from 2012 to 2018; murder rate decreased faster in SF than LA. According to FBI statistics, the murder rate per 100,000 inhabitants decreased 38.5 percent in San Francisco County from 2012 to 2018, and only decreased 6.6 percent in Los Angeles County in the same time period. In addition, the overall violent crime rate in Los Angeles increased 29.46 percent from 2012 to 2018, while it decreased in San Francisco by 1.9 percent.

Los Angeles County San Francisco County Murder - 2012 6 8.4 Murder - 2018 5.6 5.17 % Change - Murder 2012-2018 -6.60% -38.45% Violent Crime - 2012 446.4 704.2 Violent Crime - 2018 577.9 690.9 % Change - Violent Crime 2012-2018 29.46% -1.90%

[Federal Bureau of Investigation, Universal Crime Reporting Statistics, 2012; 2018]

Violent and property crime rates in California fell in 2018, continuing state wide decline; Los Angeles crimes historically low. According to the Sacramento Bee in July 2019, “Most violent and property crimes fell last year, continuing an ongoing decline in California, according to statistics released this month by the state Attorney General.” Los Angeles violent crime rates have declined since 1985, with the exception of rape; The Bee reported higher reported rates of rape are due to broader definitions of rape and higher willingness of victims to report. [The Sacramento Bee, 7/10/2019]

Failed to Charge Diddy with Assault

Lacey declined to charge Diddy for assault with deadly weapon at USC in 2015. In July 2015, The New York Times reported that the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office declined to "bring felony charges against Sean Combs, the music mogul known as Diddy, following an incident last month at the University of California, Los Angeles, where his son is a member of the football team":

Mr. Combs had been arrested at the university’s athletic complex on three counts of assault with a deadly weapon — a kettlebell — as well as one count of battery and one count of making terrorist threats, police said at the time. A kettlebell is a cast-iron or steel ball with a handle that is used for weight training... The case has been referred to the Los Angeles city attorney’s office, which could file misdemeanor charges.

[The New York Times, 7/3/2015]

District Attorney’s Office Budget

Expenditures

Los Angeles District Attorney's Office expenditures increased over 35 percent under Lacey. According to County of Los Angeles budget documents, budgeted expenditures for the District Attorney's office increased 35.71 percent during Lacey's tenure, from $330,055,578.68 in 2012, the year Lacey was elected to the office, to $447,930,000.00 in 2019:

Year to Year Change Fiscal Year Total Expenditures Change % Source

2012-2013 $330,055,578.68 N/A N/A 2014-15 Recommended Budget Volume 1

2013-2014 $346,755,781.02 $16,700,202.34 5.06% 2015-16 Recommended Budget Volume 1

2014-2015 $371,054,115.57 $24,298,334.55 7.01% 2016-17 Recommended Budget Volume 1

2015-2016 $384,000,059.23 $12,945,943.66 3.49% 2017-18 Recommended Budget Volume 1

2016-2017 $398,114,783.34 $14,114,724.11 3.68% 2018-19 Recommended Budget Volume 1

2017-2018 $416,573,268.57 $18,458,485.23 4.64% 2019-20 Recommended Budget Volume 1

2018-2019 $431,172,000.00 $14,598,731.43 3.50% 2019-20 Recommended Budget Volume 1

2019-2020 $447,930,000.00 $16,758,000.00 3.89% 2019-20 Recommended Budget Volume 1

Change 2012-2019 $117,874,421.32 35.71% [Los Angeles County Recommended Budget Volume 1, 2014-2015; 2015-2016; 2016-2017; 2017-2018; 2018-2019; 2019-2020]

Compensation

Average spending per employee in the District Attorney's Office increased 19 percent during Lacey's tenure. According to Los Angeles County data, the average compensation, including salary and benefits, within the District Attorney's office increased 19.05 percent from 2012, the year Lacey was elected to the office, to 2019:

Total Salary and Budgeted Year to Year Fiscal Year Benefits Position $/Position Change Change % 2012-2013 $296,053,420.67 2,128.00 $139,122.85 N/A N/A

2013-2014 $311,499,812.69 2,140.00 $145,560.66 $6,437.81 4.63%

2014-2015 $331,309,429.87 2,151.00 $154,025.77 $8,465.11 5.82%

2015-2016 $344,162,164.62 2,187.00 $157,367.24 $3,341.47 2.17%

2016-2017 $354,495,646.56 2,229.00 $159,037.98 $1,670.74 1.06%

2017-2018 $374,964,441.28 2,216.00 $169,207.78 $10,169.80 6.39%

2018-2019 $386,623,000.00 2,231.00 $173,295.83 $4,088.05 2.42%

2019-2020 $406,930,000.00 2,247.00 $181,099.24 $7,803.41 4.50%

Change 2012-2019 $27,735 19.05% [Los Angeles County Recommended Budget Volume 1, 2014-2015; 2015-2016; 2016-2017; 2017-2018; 2018-2019; 2019-2020]

Sexual Harassment and Assault

Sexual Harassment and Assault Highlights ● Lacey was accused of “mistreatment of sexual harassment victims and whistleblowers” in the DA’s office during the #MeToo movement. One prosecutor claimed accusers experienced retaliation, and whistleblowers have been punished for making reports in Lacey’s office. In 2017, Lacey's office paid a $700,000 settlement to two prosecutors who claimed their supervisor "[subjected] them to regular harassment and [fostered] an abusive, sexually charged workplace." In 2019, her office also paid a $300,000 settlement to a prosecutor who was sexually harassed by her supervisor. ● In 2018, Lacey's office filed charges in only 188 of the 815 forcible rape cases police presented for prosecution. ● Lacey established a task force to respond to allegations of sexual abuse in the entertainment industry in November 2017. However, the task force had yet to bring charges in any cases as of October 2018. ● Lacey waited almost two years to bring charges against accused serial sexual predator Harvey Weinstein despite her office's consideration of three investigations of Weinstein in 2018 alone and a total of eight investigations of Weinstein in 2019. Lacey's office pressed charges in January 2020 upon the start of Weinstein's criminal sexual assault trial in New York. ● Lacey’s office declined to bring charges against Ed Buck, a campaign contributor, for the 2017 overdose death of Gemmel Moore, found dead in Buck’s home. Since Lacey’s office declined to bring charges in 2017, one other man died of a drug overdose in Buck’s apartment, and another almost died before escaping. In September 2019, a Los Angeles judge allowed a wrongful death lawsuit against Buck and Lacey to move forward, which alleged Lacey "botched" the investigation into Moore's death, and that her decision not to bring charges against Buck is evidence of "widespread and persistent" racial bias against prosecuting crimes against Black victims. ● A 2019 Netflix documentary detailed accusations that yoga guru Bikhram Choudhury had a pattern of sexual misconduct, sometimes violent. However, Lacey's office declined to file criminal charges against Bikram, arguing there was insufficient evidence. ● Lacey declined to prosecute Bill Cosby for two alleged sexual assaults in Los Angeles. Bill Cosby was accused of sexual assault by more than 60 women, and was sentenced to three to ten years prison in 2018 for the sexual assault of Andrea Constand. ● Lacey failed to prosecute actor Danny Masterson for allegedly drugging and raping four women despite what law enforcement described as "overwhelming evidence."

● Lacey declined to file sexual assault charges against Sylvester Stallone, citing "no new witnesses and insufficient evidence," and highlighting that the victim has a previously consensual relationship with Stallone before the alleged assault. ● Lacey declined to charge TV executive Les Moonves with sex crimes, despite abuse claims made by two women, citing expired statute of limitations. ● Lacey declined to bring felony domestic violence charges against attorney Michael Avenatti, but referred the case to city attorneys for misdemeanor charges. ● In 2017, Lacey declined to bring charges against a former police officer who allegedly drugged and raped a woman in a 40-hour attack, citing that "victim and suspect are acquaintances." Lacey responded to the case by saying, "at times we may in fact be letting someone go that we feel in our heart of hearts is guilty, but we don't have the evidence."

Failed to Address Sexual Harassment in Her Office

Lacey accused of ‘mistreatment of sexual harassment victims and whistleblowers’ in DA’s office during #MeToo moment. In August 2019, the Los Angeles Daily News reported that, in 2017, Lacey’s “office was beginning to wrestle with its own #MeToo moment.” According to the Daily News, the series of events “put Lacey squarely in the cross hairs of controversy.” Reportedly, Edward Miller, a “star prosecutor with the Public Integrity Unit,” was “accused of aggressively pursuing his female colleague for more than 2 1/2 years.” In September 2017, a co-worker blew the whistle on Miller, sending a memo of allegations to memo to Sgt. Jay Chapman, the internal affairs investigator. The whistleblower also wrote an email to Lacey, stating, “I do not feel safe in this office and in my workplace.” They added, “Also, I don’t feel that this office is expending any effort to ensure my safety and the safety of others related to this investigation.” In 2019, Miller was “transferred to the El Monte branch of the District Attorney’s Office, where he works alongside rookie prosecutors.” Reportedly:

Since 2014, 19 male and eight female employees [of the L.A. County District Attorney’s Office] have been accused of sexual harassment… However, a Southern California News Group review of emails, memos, lawsuits and confidential reports, as well as interviews with prosecutors, paints a troubling picture about how the District Attorney’s Office treats sexual harassment victims and whistleblowers.

In 2018, Lacey sent an email to staff that “outlined her commitment to fostering a safe and professional work environment.” However, six months later, a “prosecutor wrote an email to Lacey outlining the mistreatment of sexual harassment victims and whistleblowers in the office.” Subsequently, a different prosecutor “emailed Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti and U.S. Reps. Judy Chu, D-Pasadena, Adam B.

Schiff, D-Burbank, and Ted Lieu, D-Manhattan Beach, asking them to withdraw their endorsements of Lacey.” According to the prosecutor, “As a woman, I’ve seen firsthand how unprofessional and demoralizing complaints made by women have been handled.” She added, “I have seen how (the accused) have been allowed to retaliate and intimidate the accusers. I have seen whistleblowers punished for reporting conduct.” [Los Angeles Daily News, 8/16/2019]

Lawsuit against Lacey’s office claimed it was 'plagued by hostility and sexual favoritism,' settled for $700,000 in 2017. According to the Los Angeles Times in September 2017, two prosecutors in Lacey's office received $700,000 to settle a 2015 lawsuit alleging that their supervisor "[subjected] them to regular harassment and [fostered] an abusive, sexually charged workplace." The women, Silverman and Mokayef, reportedly accused their former supervisor, Gary Hearnsberger, of making explicit verbal and physical advancements on them as well as "making disparaging remarks about women, crime victims and a transgender attorney." They also reportedly claimed that they were penalized for rejecting Hearsberger's advances while female prosecutors who tolerated the harassment were rewarded with high-profile cases. The Los Angeles Times reported,

The lawsuit described the nation's largest local prosecutorial office as plagued by hostility and sexual favoritism… Dist. Atty. Jackie Lacey denied suggestions that her office had overlooked allegations of sexual misconduct. 'We have no tolerance for sexual harassment in this office,' Lacey said in a statement. 'My managers are trained through the county and as part of my leadership team to respect their colleagues and uphold the values of this office'… Silverman said in court papers that since coming forward with her complaint she had been isolated, defamed, harassed and even cut off in hallways by colleagues.

[Los Angeles Times, 9/19/2017]

LA County DA’s Office paid $300,000 to prosecutor sexually harassed by supervisor in 2019. The Los Angeles Daily News reported in September 2019 that the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors reached a $300,000 settlement for Deputy District Attorney Karen Nishita, the woman prosecutor Edward Miller allegedly harassed, and further reported,

[A] prosecutor who requested anonymity for fear of retaliation, said the payment to Nishita does nothing to change the culture in the District Attorney’s Office. She alleges District Attorney Jackie Lacey has protected sexual harassers in the office and retaliated against victims and whistleblowers who speak out.

sexual violence in the entertainment industry as an example of Lacey "Taking on perpetrators of sexual violence and child abuse." The website wrote:

In response to the increased willingness of alleged victims of sexual violence to come forward and the widespread allegations of abuse in the entertainment industry, DA Lacey recently established a task force of veteran sex crimes prosecutors to evaluate these cases for prosecution when they are referred to the DA’s office.

[Web Archive, Jackie Lacey for LA County District Attorney “Issues," 12/18/2019]

Task force on sexual abuse in the entertainment industry had yet to bring charges as of October 2018. According to the Associated Press in October 2018, the task force launched by Lacey in response to “the surge in allegations against entertainment figures” had “taken up criminal cases involving nearly two dozen entertainment-industry figures,” but filed criminal charges against none. Reportedly:

The task force has considered charges against 22 suspects, including Weinstein, Kevin Spacey, director James Toback and former CBS CEO Leslie Moonves, all of whom have denied engaging in any sex that was not consensual.

Charges have already been rejected for most. Cases involving six suspects, including Weinstein and Spacey, both of whom have multiple accusers, remain open.

In 14 of the closed cases, charges were declined because the allegations were reported too late and thus outside the statute of limitations. The rest were turned down either for insufficient evidence or because the accuser refused to cooperate with investigators after initially reporting the incidents.

[Associated Press, 10/6/2018]

Lacey Waited Almost Two Years to Act on Allegations Against Harvey Weinstein

Three cases of sexual abuse by Weinstein sent to Lacey’s office in 2018; no charges filed in 2018 and 2019. According to Deadline in February 2018, three cases of sexual abuse were submitted by the Los Angeles police to the District Attorney’s office. Deadline reported that a law enforcement source said the Police Department is “very confident these are solid and actionable cases.” The cases were

reportedly the first submissions to the D.A.’s office since the formation of a task force examining allegations of sexual assault in the entertainment industry in November 2017. The Los Angeles Times reported that two cases were outside the statute of limitations, but a third case centered on allegations from an Italian actress, who claimed Weinstein “bullied” his way into her hotel room and attacked her. Reportedly:

According to law enforcement sources, L.A. detectives say the evidence is promising because the woman told her story to three people, including her priest, relatively soon after the alleged attack. LAPD detectives also have obtained bills showing she was at the hotel at the time, said the sources, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss it publicly… She did not tell authorities about the incident at the time, so no rape kit was taken. As a result, the law enforcement source said, there is little physical evidence in the case.

The Times reported in August 2019 that "police in Los Angeles and Beverly Hills have presented several cases involving Weinstein to the Los Angeles County district attorney’s office, but charging decisions have yet to be made.” [Deadline, 2/8/2018; Los Angeles Times, 3/20/2018; 8/26/2019]

Lacey's office reviewed eight sexual assault cases against Weinstein in 2019. In December 2019, the Associated Press reported that "prosecutors in Los Angeles are reviewing eight cases accusing disgraced film mogul Harvey Weinstein of sexual assault." Reportedly, "The Los Angeles and Beverly Hills police departments each brought four investigations to prosecutors." As of December 2019, District Attorney Jackie Lacey's officer had yet to bring charges against Weinstein in any of the eight cases. [Associated Press, 12/26/2019]

Lacey's office filed charges against Weinstein upon start of Weinstein's New York City trial in January 2020. In January 2020, the Los Angeles Times reported that the office of District Attorney Jackie Lacey "filed charges of forcible rape, forcible oral copulation, sexual penetration by use of force and sexual battery by restraint" against Weinstein. Reportedly, the charges against Weinstein were related to "alleged assaults at hotels in Southern California in 2013." The indictments reportedly "stem from an investigation launched by a task force formed in 2017 to review sexual abuse allegations against high-profile entertainment figures." Weinstein reportedly appeared in court for "his trial on similar charges in New York City" on January 6, 2020, the same day that Lacey's office announced charges against Weinstein in Los Angeles County. Reportedly, upon announcing the charges, Lacey stated:

We believe the evidence will show that the defendant used his power and influence to gain access to his victims and then commit violent crimes against them...I want to commend the

connection with Moore’s death more than a year after the district attorney’s office declined to do so.” Reportedly, “activists and attorneys involved in the case said the sheer volume of allegations in the federal complaint suggest Buck should have been arrested earlier.” [Los Angeles Times, 9/29/2019]

LA Times: Lacey cited errors in police search as possible reason Ed Buck wasn’t charged in 2017 overdose death. According to the Los Angeles Times in October 2019, Lacey stated that:

Errors committed by Sheriff's Department deputies and a coroner's office investigator... played a significant role in the decision not to criminally charge Ed Buck in the death of a man who overdosed in his West Hollywood home in 2017.

Lacey reportedly stated that in the investigation of the death of the victim, Gemmel Moore, "responding deputies illegally searched a red toolbox inside Buck's home," and the coroner's investigator "gave them information that turned out to be incorrect." The Los Angeles Times reported,

Moore's death in 2017 has long served as a crucible for Lacey, who has been repeatedly criticized by activists in the LGBT and African American communities for failing to hold Buck accountable for alleged predatory behavior toward young men. Another man, Timothy Dean, died of an overdose in Buck's home in January of this year and a third man nearly suffered the same fate in September, according to court records.

Many activists have argued that gap in status between Buck, a wealthy Democratic donor, and his victims, many of whom had been homeless and people of color, played a role in the decision not to prosecute him...

Prosecutors cited an 'inadmissible search and seizure' among the reasons not to prosecute Buck in connection with Moore's death when they filed a memo declining to charge him with manslaughter in 2018. But neither Lacey nor the Sheriff's Department has answered questions beyond that one document.

[Los Angeles Times, 10/29/2019]

2019: LA judge allowed wrongful death lawsuit against Buck and Lacey to move forward. According to the City News Service in September 2019, a Los Angeles federal judge ruled that a wrongful death lawsuit against Ed Buck and Lacey over Gemmel Moore's death could move forward. Moore's mother, LaTisha Nixon, filed the suit and her attorney, Hussain Turk, reportedly stated:

Digital Spy: Bikram cast himself as someone students ‘needed in order to accomplish career aspirations’; ‘influence and control over those closest to him’ led to sexual violence. According to Digital Spy in November 2019, Sarah Baughn, who first accused Bikram Choudhury of sexual assault, also “detailed some of the psychological aspects that led to the alleged abuse,” particularly that Bikram cast himself as someone his students “needed in order to accomplish their career aspirations.” Larissa Anderson alleged:

Made promises of making her famous and she was offered an invitation to stay at his home. One night, after Bikram's family had gone to sleep, Larissa alleges that Bikram assaulted her and then went on to rape her.

‘I felt like my physical body was completely limp, totally numb,’ she said. Larissa told the filmmakers that she had confided in her girlfriend the following morning but, other than that, she pretended that nothing had happened.

At first, Larissa was adamant that she didn't want anyone to know, and that she wanted to complete her yoga training because that was all she knew. Soon after, Bikram approved her opening of a yoga school.

The Guardian reported:

Devotion could quickly turn to financial and social dependence; after spending a fortune on teacher training, students could only open a Bikram studio with Choudhury’s permission. Professional advancement hinged on his approval. Exposing his predation or abuse, as Anderson, Baughn and several other women eventually did, meant social ostracism and the end of one’s Bikram teaching career. Instead, for years, people excused or turned a blind eye to the behavior as, ‘Well, that’s just Bikram.’ People wanted to separate the man from the teacher, said Orner. ‘How about we just don’t?’

ABC News reported Anderson wished she had gone to the police, and said “it would’ve saved me years of pain.” [Digital Spy, 11/26/2019; The Guardian, 11/20/2019; ABC News, 2/26/2014]

Bikram fled U.S. after losing civil case of wrongful termination and sexual harassment, ordered to pay $6.8m in damages. According to The Guardian in November 2019, Bikram Choudhury has not faced criminal charges. However, “after losing a civil case of wrongful termination and sexual harassment by his former legal adviser Minakshi ‘Micki’ Jafa-Bodden, he fled the United States and refused to pay the $6.8m

Lacey failed to prosecute actor Danny Masterson for rape despite ‘overwhelming evidence.' According to The Huffington Post in November 2017, an investigation by Lacey's office into accusations of rape against actor Danny Masterson stalled despite "overwhelming evidence in the case." Masterson, described as a "longtime member of the Church of Scientology" as well as a star of "That '70s Show," was reportedly accused by four women of "drugging them and violently raping them in the early 2000s." In November 2017 The Huffington Post reported,

In April 2017, police referred the case to the district attorney. Since then, the district attorney’s office has examined the evidence turned over by LAPD and conducted its own investigation. Despite compelling ― what one law enforcement source described as 'overwhelming' — evidence, the charges have not been approved for filing. The evidence includes audiotapes, emails sent to and from Scientology officers at the time the alleged rapes happened, forensic computer evidence and a threatening handwritten letter Masterson sent to one of the alleged victims, according to two people with knowledge of the evidence in the district attorney’s possession.

In August 2019 The Huffington Post reported,

The investigation of those rape reports, the four women say, has dragged on with no results so far. In the last three years, Los Angeles County District Attorney Jackie Lacey has faced criticism for not completing the investigation, despite what critics of hers have referred to as 'overwhelming evidence.'

[The Huffington Post, 11/2/2017; 8/14/2019]

Source claimed Lacey 'would never charge Masterson' because she 'doesn’t want to take on the Church of Scientology.' In December 2019, The Underground Bunker reported that an anonymous source told the publication that Lacey "would never charge Masterson" for the rapes he was accused of because she "doesn’t want to take on the Church of Scientology," of which Masterson is a member. According to the source, "The only way Masterson will be charged, they explained, is if Jackie Lacey loses her re-election bid this coming March." Reportedly:

Ironically, Lacey is seen as the tough-on-crime candidate who has proven to be less progressive than her initial supporters hoped. But for some reason, she has held back from charging some powerful men like Choudhury and Masterson. Gascón positions himself as the more progressive alternative, promising to reform an office that isn’t doing enough about police officers who commit

Lacey Declined to Charge Michael Avenatti for Domestic Violence, Referred to City Attorneys

Lacey declined to bring felony domestic violence charges against Michael Avenatti, referred to city for misdemeanor charges. In November 2018, CNN reported:

The Los Angeles County District Attorney's office declined to file felony domestic violence charges against attorney Michael Avenatti on Wednesday, choosing instead to refer the case to the Los Angeles City Attorney's office for consideration of misdemeanor charges.

Avenatti was accused by Mareli Miniutti, his live-in girlfriend, of "forcefully hitting her in the face with pillows, grabbing her wrist and arm and dragging her across the floor, causing scratches to her side and leg" after an argument over money. [CNN, 11/22/2018]

Lacey Declined to Prosecute Former Police Officer for 40-Hour Attack

Lacey declined to prosecute former police officer who allegedly drugged and raped woman in 40-hour attack. According to NBC Los Angeles in November 2019, Lacey’s office declined to file criminal charges against former police office Edgar Yovanny Gomez, who was accused by a woman who wished to remain anonymous of a 40-hour attack where Gomex allegedly drugged, stripped, and raped, and allegedly “held down and ordered to keep quiet when police knocked on the apartment door":

On Feb. 3, 2019 LAPD officers found the woman inside ex-officer Edgar Yovanny Gomez's fourth floor apartment on Ninth Street. She was treated at a hospital for drug intoxication and released. She reported the assault to the LAPD a day later. Gomez was arrested within a week.

The Los Angeles District Attorney’s office rejected the case against Gomez, writing “Victim and suspect are acquaintances.” The victim responded, “In a way I thought that they were breaking me down as a victim, about how credible I was, instead of focusing on the crime itself.” Lacey told NBC Los Angeles:

We may believe the victim and believe it happened, but that's not where we stop because that's not enough to get a conviction… We take the commitment to justice very seriously, and realize that at times we may in fact be letting someone go, that we feel in our heart of hearts is guilty, but we don't have the evidence.

Gomez pled guilty to child abuse in 2018 after being accused of “mistreating several children at a military style boot camp.” [NBC Los Angeles, 11/21/2019]

Racial Justice

Racial Justice Highlights ● A 2019 ACLU report showed that since Lacey took office as Los Angeles District Attorney, "every defendant who has been sentenced to death in [Los Angeles County] is a person of color." This report was referenced in an open letter to Lacey written by a group of scholars and law professors who urged her to "stop seeking the death penalty" due to this perceived racial disparity. ● In 2017, Advancement Project-California found that "the incarceration rate for African Americans in Los Angeles County is 13 times more than that for whites." ● Lacey's office declined to charge multiple LAPD officers who shot and killed Black men, including unarmed victims with mental illness including suicidal ideation. In 2019, a Los Angeles times op-ed said Lacey "has fallen short" in addressing violence by police, explaining, "the D.A.’s office has repeatedly declined to charge police officers in fatal shootings of unarmed black people, including in one case in which then-Los Angeles police chief Charlie Beck said the officer should be criminally prosecuted." ● Lacey clashed multiple times with Black Lives Matter activists who claimed she met them "with hostility" and that she was a "black face on white supremacy." In October 2018, BLM activists protested a "lack of dialogue with Lacey over police violence" in front of Lacey's house a year after Lacey "walked out on a crowd...who were protesting Lacey's inaction."

Racial Disparity

The Appeal in 2019: ‘Lacey hasn’t taken the steps to address the racial disparity in the system.' According to The Appeal in November 2019, "Lacey hasn't taken the steps to address the racial disparity in the system," despite being in the "best position" to "help regulate some of the worst excesses of the LAPD." The Appeal reported,

And Melina Abdullah, an organizer for Black Lives Matter Los Angeles and a professor at California State University, Los Angeles, told The Appeal in a phone interview that Lacey today is no longer the Lacey from Crenshaw: 'She’s not grounded in the Black community now… A lot of Black folks are awake to who she is.'

Lex Steppling, the campaign and policy director for Dignity and Power Now, reportedly described Lacey as "a Black woman who claimed her roots openly and publicly, but has carried on the same racist, deadly legacy that preceded her." [The Appeal, 11/12/2019]

Racial Bias in Prosecutions

LA Times: ACLU reported showed every defendant sentenced to death under Lacey was person of color. According to the Los Angeles Times in June 2019, an American Civil Liberties Union report published in 2019 showed that since Lacey took office "every defendant who has been sentenced to death in [Los Angeles County] is a person of color." Of the 22 defendants sentenced to death, the report found that "13 were Latino, eight were black and one was Asian." The Los Angeles Times reported,

The report states that defense attorneys in five cases had either been or would go on to be suspended or disbarred. In another case, the report states, a defense attorney dozed off multiple times during the trial.

'L.A. County is an example of everything wrong with the death penalty,' Cassandra Stubbs, director of the ACLU's Capital Punishment Project, said in a statement. 'Abysmal defense lawyering, geographic disparities and racial bias are the legacy of Los Angeles' unfair and discriminatory use of the death penalty.'

[Los Angeles Times, 6/19/2019]

Legal scholars urged Lacey to stop seeking death penalty due to perceived racial disparities. According to the City News Service in July 2019, a group of legal scholars and law professors wrote an open letter urging Lacey to "stop seeking the death penalty in murder cases." The letter reportedly references an ACLU report which found that LA convicted murders who have been sentenced to death since Lacey took office have all been people of color. The City News Service reported,

'Not only does Lacey seek and obtain the death penalty more often (than) almost any other prosecutor, those sentenced to death under her watch have been exclusively people of color,' according to the letter, which is signed by professors from universities including USC, UCLA, UC Irvine, Loyola Law School and Pepperdine. 'She pursues the death penalty in the face of terrible defense lawyering and not withstanding a moratorium on executions in California.'

measures from the State Bar, in part because he had not been criminally charged. [Los Angeles Times, 12/23/2016]

Lacey’s office declined to charge LA police officers who shot and killed mentally ill Black man in 2014. According to the Los Angeles Times in January 2017, Lacey's office announced that they would not "criminally charge two Los Angeles police officers who shot and killed Ezell Ford... in 2014." Ford, a mentally ill Black man, was reportedly "walking near his South L.A. home" when he was stopped by the officers who believed he was "trying to discard drugs." The Los Angeles Times reported that in 2015 the Police Commission found the officer who shot at Ford "violated department policy... and faulted the officer's decision to approach and physically contact Ford." Lacey was reportedly criticized by activists as well as the Police Commission for the "delayed announcement" that she and her office would not press charges against the police officers. In February 2017, The Root reported that the "Los Angeles City Council has agreed to pay $1.5 million to settle a lawsuit filed by [Ezell] Ford’s family." The settlement was agreed upon two weeks after Lacey declined to press charges against the officers involved in Ford's killing. [Los Angeles Times, 1/24/2017; The Root, 2/8/2017]

Lacey concluded police officers 'used reasonable force in subduing... black man who died in police custody in 2016.' According to the Pasadena Star-News in April 2018, Lacey announced that police officers "used reasonable force in subduing Reginald Thomas Jr., the 35-year-old black man who died in police custody in 2016." The Pasadena-Star News reported of a report detailing the event,

The report, commissioned by the family attorney, included a slew of documentation that included a lengthy internal affairs interview with one of the officers involved. The officer, Aaron Villicana, relayed an account of officers using a Taser on Thomas multiple times, repeatedly striking him with a baton, kicking him in the head, punching him and ultimately restraining his hands and ankles as he laid face down on the ground.

It was in that position that Thomas became unresponsive, at which point officers started CPR. Thomas was later pronounced dead at the scene.

The Pasadena-Star News further reported,

'Of course D.A. Lacey cleared the officers who killed Reginald Thomas, her eyes are on Kamala Harris' former job or something similar and she needs law enforcement support for that,' [Thomas family attorney Caree Harper] said in an email. 'We should not be surprised about anything she

BLM activists claimed Lacey and staff met them ‘with hostility’ in 2017. According to Melina Abdullah, a member of the leadership team for #BlackLivesMatter, and Dahlia Ferlito, a co-founder of White People 4 Black Lives, “Years have been spent attempting to convince Jackie Lacey, who is descriptively Black, to stand on the side of “the people” she is supposed to represent.” In an article for LA Progressive, Abdullah and Ferlito wrote, “Since 2014 we engaged in these efforts, and none swayed her”:

Finally, Trisha Michael, whose twin sister, Kisha Michael, was killed by Inglewood Police Department while sleeping in her car, along with her partner Marquintan Sandlin, challenged Black Lives Matter to do more… On September 11, 2017, Black Lives Matter-Los Angeles launched a petition demanding that Lacey prosecute the police who kill our people, beginning with the five officers who killed Kisha and Marquintan… On October 25, 2017, the families of Kisha Michael, Marquintan Sandlin, Wakiesha Wilson, and John Horton were supported by Black Lives Matter-Los Angeles, White People for Black Lives, and more than 40 ally organizations in attempting to deliver the petition. The group was met with hostility, the closure of the public building to community members, and blatant dishonesty and disrespect by Lacey’s staff… This was a last straw that confirmed that the District Attorney had no intention of bringing about indictments of police who kill residents.

[LA Progressive, Accessed 11/5/2019]

Black Lives Matter Los Angeles protested ‘lack of dialogue with Lacey over police violence’ in October 2018. According to The Daily News of Los Angeles in October 2018, Black Lives Matter Los Angeles protested a "lack of dialogue with Lacey over police violence" in front of Lacey's Granada Hills property. Dr. Melina Abdullah, a community activist leader of the organization, reportedly stated that the group was "honoring the 422 residents of Los Angeles County who have been killed by the police or died in custody since Lacey took office in 2012." The Daily News reported,

In her six-year tenure as county prosecutor, Lacey - the first African-American to hold the office - has never filed charges against a police officer involved in a shooting. Even when Charlie Beck, then sheriff of the Los Angeles Police Department, called on Lacey to prosecute one of his own officers following a shooting in Venice in March, she declined to file a case.

According to The Daily News, the protest took place on the "one-year anniversary of a town hall meeting" in which "Lacey walked out on a crowd... who were protesting Lacey's inaction around police violence."

Dr. Abdullah reportedly said that she spoke with Lacey to schedule a January 2019 town hall meeting on the issue but "Lacey was a no-show." [The Daily News of Los Angeles, 10/25/2018]

LA Black Lives Matter leader in 2019: Lacey’s refusal to prosecute officers makes her a ‘black face on white supremacy'. According to The Daily Wire in November 2019, Black Lives Matter activists, "families of people killed by police," and others protested Lacey as she spoke to a political group in "trendy" West Hollywood. The Daily Wire reported,

[Lacey] spent a full hour standing at a podium defending her job performance amid repeated disruptions from vocal critics who had stacked the room. Many called her out for her unwillingness to prosecute cops who fatally shot their loved ones. Some criticized her handling of the case against Democratic donor Ed Buck. Others claimed Lacey had refused to meet publicly with them for the past two years, justifying the surprise attack.

Dr. Melina Abdullah, the lead organizer for Black Lives Matter LA, reportedly told Lacey "You've run from us" and called Lacey a "black face on white supremacy." The Daily Wire that an editor for the Los Angeles Blade wrote of the incident, "Lacey... seemed unprepared for the encounter with angry family members of young Black men shot by law enforcement officers who screamed their agony at her." [The Daily Wire, 11/8/2019]

Police Violence

Police Violence Highlights ● Los Angeles Police Department officers shot and killed Black residents at a disproportionately high rate with "odds of prosecution... effectively zero" for police who kill Black residents. Between 2000 and 2018 there were over 1,500 shootings by LAPD officers in the county and no charges brought against the officers involved. ● Since she took office, Lacey's declined to press charges against LAPD officers involved in 400 police shootings in the county, incidents which included the death of residents who were mentally ill, unarmed, and suicidal. Lacey wrote in 2016 that police officers "acting out of policy and using improper tactics [in officer-involved shootings] are not crimes." A 2018 LA Times editorial commented that Lacey's decision not to prosecute officers "leaves the nagging feeling that justice is eluding us." ● Lacey declined to charge a high school security guard who opened fire on a transgender activist outside a synagogue. Her office stated that they would not be able to conclusively prove that the guard had not been acting in self-defense, and an LAPD spokesman commented that investigators were not considering the incident to be a hate crime. However, the victim's attorney stated, "There is no reason for [Los Angeles County Dist. Atty.] Jackie Lacey not to be prosecuting this crime." ● In 2017, Lacey's office announced that they would not "criminally charge two Los Angeles police officers who shot and killed Ezell Ford," a mentally ill black man. After the announcement, a group of civil rights activists and clergymen launched an effort to recall Lacey. ● In 2018, Lacey "had harsh words" for a proposal to require the public release of LAPD officers' body camera and patrol car footage, as well as other LAPD images and recordings of "critical incidents." However, Matt Johnson, the vice president of the Police Commission, said he thought the measure would "go a long way in helping build public trust though a significant increase in transparency."

Lacey 'Allowing Police to Get Away with Murder'

black homeless" man was "reaching for another officer's gun," but the other officer on the scene said "he had no idea why Proctor pulled the trigger." The Appeal reported in November 2019 that "the LAPD report and video of the incident both failed to show that [Glenn] was reaching for anyone's gun." LA Police Chief Charlie Beck reportedly called for Proctor to be criminally charged. The Los Angeles Times wrote of Lacey's decision,

We call on prosecutors to meticulously follow the law and exercise discretion in the interests of justice, not in the interest of public acclaim. Lacey appears to have been focused on the former, at least as she sees it. But district attorneys are also elected officials, and we call on them to lead. That means being vocal about perceived shortcomings in the entire justice system, not just in the cases brought before them. We've heard too little from Lacey on the subject of police shootings and what ought to be done to hold officers accountable, even in the absence of something so blunt -- and difficult to achieve, no matter how publicly satisfying it might be -- as criminal prosecution.

The Appeal reported that Lacey's decision not to prosecute Proctor was "because she couldn't prove the case beyond a reasonable doubt," and she reportedly wrote in an email to The Appeal, "If a peace officer's conduct rises to the level of a provable crime, my office will file criminal charges." [Los Angeles Times, 3/9/2018; 3/8/2018; The Appeal, 11/12/2019]

ACLU: Lacey's decision not to charge cop for killing Glenn suggests she does not intend to hold officers accountable for shootings. In March 2018, ACLU SoCal responded to Lacey's decision to not file charges against Clifford Proctor for fatally shooting Brendon Glenn:

District Attorney Lacey's decision not to prosecute LAPD Officer Clifford Proctor for the shooting of Brendon Glenn abdicates her responsibility to protect all Angelenos from violence and to hold police accountable to the same laws as the public.

Despite the hundreds of civilians that have been killed by police officers within Los Angeles during Lacey's tenure, not one officer has been charged with a crime. But even among this throng of victims, Brendon Glenn stands apart. If the evidence is clear enough for Chief Beck to take the extraordinary step of calling for prosecution of one of his own officers, what more does Lacey need? Her decision suggests that no matter how egregious an officer’s conduct is, no matter the evidence she has before her, she does not intend to hold any officer accountable for unnecessarily and inexplicably shooting a member of the public.

[ACLU SoCal, 3/8/2018]

Lacey defended office’s 2016 decision to prevent police officer charged with ‘horrific’ felony assault. According to the Los Angeles Times, in August 2016 Lacey's office reached a deal with Los Angeles Police Department officer Richard Garcia that would allow him community service instead of jail time. Garcia was charged with felony assault after he reportedly "kicked and punched Clinton Alford Jr. during an October 2014 arrest in South Los Angeles." An LAPD official called the assault "horrific." Reportedly, Garcia's plea agreement stipulated that he would plea no contest to a charge of felony assault, and after completing community service would be allowed to replace the felony charge with a misdemeanor charge and two years of probation. The Los Angeles Times reported that Lacey stated "she believed filing the felony charge against Garcia signaled to both police officers and residents that 'people will be held accountable.'" Mac Shorty, chairman of the Watts Neighborhood Council, called the outcome "too lenient and another example of Lacey not holding police officers accountable." [Los Angeles Times, 8/10/2016]

Lacey found police officers were justified in shooting death of mentally ill, suicidal man. According to NBC Los Angeles in October 2017, Lacey declined to press charges against police officers involved in the shooting death of Luis Molina Martinez, and found that their "use of force was justified." Martinez, a mentally ill man, had reportedly "stabbed himself in the abdomen during an apparent suicide attempt". Three police officers reportedly arrived at his apartment after Martinez's wife called 911, and all fired at Martinez after he refused aid. NBC Los Angeles reported that the LAPD stated Martinez was shot five times--including "three times in the back while he was lying face-down in his doorway"--because he allegedly "lunged at officers with a knife in his hand," but a lawsuit filed by Martinez's family claimed that the evidence was "staged" as Martinez was unarmed when officers arrived. The lawsuit also reportedly claimed that "one officer... kicked Mr. Martinez twice and none of the officers made any attempt at providing medical attention," and that "Martinez's body was taken away to allow the officers to move and destroy the evidence of the homicide." Lacey reportedly wrote in her case report,

'The evidence examined shows that Martinez was depressed and intent on committing suicide. Prior to the officers' arrival, Martinez had stabbed himself in the chest and refused to go to the emergency room,' Lacey wrote.

She added, 'Martinez refused any assistance from the responding officers after Ramirez called 9-1-1 for assistance. Instead, Martinez purposefully engaged in threatening behavior that had no rational explanation other than it assured the use of deadly force against him.'

Prison Violence

LA Times in 2015: federal investigation exposed jail brutality where DA’s office found 'no evidence' of wrongdoing. According to the Los Angeles Times in December 2015, a 2015 federal investigation resulted in charges against multiple deputies for their 2011 beating of a jail inmate; prosecutors from Lacey's office reportedly found "no evidence" of wrongdoing in this incident. In 2011 Gabriel Carillo was reportedly beaten by a group of deputies while handcuffed in the main Los Angeles County jail; a prosecutor from Lacey's office wrote in a 2012 internal memo that "there is no evidence to suggest that the deputies acted inappropriately." The Los Angeles Times reported that prosecutors from the U.S. Attorney's Office procured criminal convictions against five of the deputies. The Los Angeles Times further reported,

District attorney's officials defend their office's handling of the case, saying their review was hamstrung because Carrillo would not speak with investigators about the beating.

But Carrillo and his attorney accuse the office of discounting evidence of wrongdoing that proved key to the federal prosecution.

Advocates for inmates rights say the case shows that the district attorney's office has not been aggressive enough at holding deputies accountable for abuses in county jails at a time when federal authorities and a blue-ribbon panel found evidence of persistent brutality.

Lacey reportedly declined to comment on the incident. [Los Angeles Times, 12/26/2015]

Out of Step on Criminal Justice Reform

Opposed Legalizing Marijuana

Lacey opposed legalizing recreational marijuana. According to the Los Angeles Times in February 2019, Lacey was "out of step with the voters in the county on... key criminal justice measures." Reportedly, Lacey "opposed Proposition 64, which legalized recreational marijuana, again placing her out of step with the 59.5% of Los Angeles voters who supported the measure." The Times called it "disheartening" that "Lacey hasn't embraced... criminal justice reforms."[Los Angeles Times, 2/26/2019]

Fair Punishment Project: Lacey's warnings against Prop 64 'scare tactics.' In August 2017, the Fair Punishment Project reported Lacey "utilized scare tactics to discourage voters from supporting" Proposition 64 by warning that "Prop 64 would make it more difficult to convict someone for driving under the influence (DUI)" without relying on empirical evidence. [Fair Punishment Project, 8/2017]

'Full Bore in the Prosecution' of Mental Illness

Critics accused Lacey of going 'full bore in the prosecution' of the mentally ill, rather than the 'benign, therapeutic approach' she promised. In June 2019, The Appeal reported Earl Hutchinson, president of the Los Angeles Urban Policy Roundtable, said Lacey “made many promises about a benign, therapeutic approach to dealing with the mentally challenged accused of crimes.” He added, “However, she has still gone full bore in the prosecution of, rather than treatment and services first [for], these individuals.” [The Appeal, 6/7/2019]

2020 Witness LA Op Ed: Lacey's progressive 'talk' on mental health issues 'doesn't match' her actions. In January 2020, Witness LA, a criminal justice journalism publication, published an op-ed by President of the LA County Public Defenders Union Nikhil Ramnaney. The op-ed was titled "DA Lacey Continues To Praise Diversion Over Jail For The Mentally Ill, But Her Prosecutors’ Actions Tell A Different Story." According to the piece, "Jackie Lacey’s talk about treatment not cells for the mentally ill is meaningless until she and her prosecutors implement real change in LA’s courtrooms." According to Ramnaney, in response to LA County Democrats' endorsement of Gascón, Lacey:

Touted her progressive accomplishments and claimed that she had steered her office 'toward a greater focus on getting treatment for those who suffer from mental illness, rather than incarceration.' Her public claims sound like good steps: using diversion to route people toward treatment instead of jail, retraining first responders, and focusing on reentry resources. But what we’re seeing on the ground doesn’t match the rhetoric that Lacey is now trying to make a focal point of her reelection campaign.

Her position on diversion courts, which Lacey repeatedly highlights as an important tool for routing people with mental illness into alternatives to incarceration, is an instructive case in point. In her public statements and published criteria: she is only open to diversion for non-violent offenders, which excludes a large population of people whose criminal charges stem from their psychiatric symptoms. Heaping additional punishment on a psychiatric patient who struggles with an orderly, for example, or a person who lashes out while hallucinating, is self-defeating

Lacey says she wants responders to be re-trained in de-escalation, which is a worthy goal. But this particular training comes from her office, an agency historically unversed in nonviolent crisis resolution tactics, and which in previous cases has shown more interest in teaching officers, how to protect themselves from liability than in reining in abuse.And while we’re on the topic, it’s hard to have faith in an agency led by someone who has ignored community demands to enact a Do-Not-Call list that would have kept cops with histories of misconduct off the witness stand.

Concluding the Op-Ed, Ramnaney stated Lacey's "rhetoric is meaningless until she and her prosecutors actually implement the necessary changes in our courtrooms." [Witness LA, 1/6/2020]

Lacey's office reportedly trained prosecutors to fight mental health defenses, routinely charged the mentally ill with new crimes once detained. In June 2019, The Appeal reported, "Critics say Lacey herself isn’t the reformer she has claimed to be" with regard to mental illness:

Though in January she announced a new division in her office devoted to serving people with mental illness, the unit only has about two staffers, according to Joseph Iniguez, an assistant district attorney in Lacey’s office who is running against her in 2020. And Iniguez said line prosecutors aren’t properly trained on how to handle cases involving people with mental illness in court. ‘We’ve had training on how to address mental health defenses—so literally ways to fight mental health defenses,’ Iniguez told The Appeal. ‘But we haven’t been equipped to understand and deal with mental health illness and how to treat a human that’s brought into our process in the first place'... Lacey’s office is often charging people with mental illnesses with new crimes once they are detained.

[The Appeal, 6/7/2019]

Advocates claimed Lacey's mental health diversion program was 'leaving out the people who need it the most.' In June 2019, The Appeal reported that advocates said Los Angeles County's "much-touted mental health diversion program is leaving out the people who need it the most.” According to an anonymous public defender, “Lacey’s office sometimes objects to diverting people who… are

When realignment didn’t result in a crime wave, she acknowledged that but maintained that there was a 'public safety' concern. In an email to The Appeal, Lacey said, 'I have supported and implemented criminal justice reform throughout my career as a prosecutor.'

[The Appeal, 11/12/2019]

Family of shooting victims sued Lacey in 2015 over improper post-prison supervision of convicted murderer. According to the City News Service in August 2015, Lacey and probation chief Jerry Powers were sued by relatives of four people fatally shot in Los Angeles in 2012. The lawsuit reportedly claimed that Ka Pasasouk, the alleged killer, was "improperly supervised after his release from prison and should have been behind bars at the time of the deaths." The City News Service reported,

[Defense attorneys] also maintained that government officials such as Lacey and Powers do not have a 'constitutional duty to protect citizens from harm inflicted by other citizens.' Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Malcolm Mackey agreed, finding that Lacey and Powers were shielded by law from any civil liability.

The lawsuit reportedly named Lacey as a defendant as her office "recommended that Pasasouk be allowed to enter a drug diversion program instead of being placed back behind bars [after a drug arrest]--despite a lengthy history of convictions and a recommendation to the contrary by the Probation Department." [City News Service, 8/14/2015]

Limited Conviction Review

Lacey created conviction review task force legal experts said would 'eliminate the opportunity to exonerate' convicts coerced into false confessions. According to the Los Angeles Times, in June 2015, Lacey announced the creation of a DA's office task force to review convictions of "people currently incarcerated for serious or violent felonies who make claims of actual innocence." Lacey reportedly specified that the "unit will not review claims from anyone who confessed." The Los Angeles Times reported,

Some legal experts said the decision not to review claims from those who confessed could eliminate the opportunity to exonerate someone who was coerced to falsely admit guilt. Deirdre O'Connor, who leads Innocence Matters, a nonprofit organization dedicated to preventing and

overturning wrongful convictions, said people sometimes plead guilty to a crime to avoid the risk of a lengthy sentence.

[Los Angeles Times, 6/29/2015]

Lacey highlights conviction review panel as example of 'Ensuring the fair and ethical pursuit of justice.' As of December 2019, Lacey's campaign website highlighted the conviction review unit as an example of her work "Ensuring the fair and ethical pursuit of justice." The website read:

Jackie created a conviction review unit to review cases in which a claim has been made that the wrong person was punished for a serious crime. The LA County’s DA office is one of only six offices in the state that has such a unit.

[Web Archive, Jackie Lacey for LA County District Attorney “Issues," 12/18/2019]

Supported Expanding Wiretaps

Lacey sponsored bill to ‘substantially expand how wiretaps are used in California.' According to the Los Angeles Times in June 2019, Lacey sponsored a bill that was expected to "substantially expand how wiretaps are used in California." The bill, Senate Bill 439, was reportedly designed to "allow law enforcement to use intercepted phone calls, emails, Facebook Messenger chats and other electronic communications to build cases for a wide swath of crimes that current state law deems ineligible for such surveillance." The San Francisco public defender's office reportedly argued in a letter that wiretaps don't usually reveal criminal activity. The Los Angeles Times reported:

But law enforcement also used wiretaps to listen in on thousands of people who didn't commit crimes, involving hundreds of thousands of calls and messages, said San Francisco Public Defender Manohar Raju in his letter. In one instance, an L.A. wiretap operation in a 2018 murder investigation intercepted more than 43,000 communications from 920 people, with 1% of the interceptions providing incriminating information, according to the state report.

The Los Angeles Times also reported that the bill contained a provision that "would make overheard evidence of any criminal conduct by a peace officer admissible in the administrative hearings used to discipline and fire officers." A specialist in representing police officers reportedly stated that the bill

"[opens police officers] up for... prosecution based on information that nobody else could be prosecuted for." [Los Angeles Times, 6/26/2019]

Accusations of Office Lacking Transparency

Lacey’s office ‘remained silent’ on ACLU-supported evidence disclosure policy. According to The Appeal in November 2019, Lacey "support[ed] a 2013 change to her office policy... which required prosecutors to disclose all impeachment evidence for law enforcement to the defense," a policy reportedly "praised" by the ACLU. The Appeal reported that Lacey's office "remained silent" when activists subsequently lobbied her office for more disclosures in accordance with the policy. [The Appeal, 11/12/2019]

The Appeal in 2019: 'Lacey’s office lacks transparency'. According to The Appeal in November 2019, "Lacey's office lacks transparency." Reportedly, Lex Steppling, the policy and campaign director for Dignity and Power Now, commented that Lacey's office demonstrated "zero interest in engaging the community." The Appeal further reported,

Laurie Levenson, a law professor at Loyola Law School and former AUSA, concurred: 'I think there’s a general need to open up the office, change the culture, make it understood to people in the community that all ranks can be heard.'

[The Appeal, 11/12/2019]

Cashing in on Cash Bail

Opposed to Ending Cash Bail

Lacey's DA office issued 2017 letter expressing opposition to bill intended to reform cash bail. In April 2017, Lacey's Los Angeles County District Attorney's Office issued a letter expressing its opposition to Senate Bill 10, which "would create a presumption of own-recognizance release and significantly changes monetary bail." SB 10 would mandate that monetary bail be set "based upon the defendant's ability to pay." The letter stated:

While our office believes SB 10 is well-intentioned, the proposed changes are so dramatic it is difficult to determine what real world impacts these changes will have on California's criminal justice system.

[Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office, 4/14/2017]

2017: Lacey worked with Senator Hertzberg to recommend changes to SB 10. In August 2017, Lacey's office issued a statement indicating she was 'committed to meaningful bail reform in California'

and that her office had spent the year prior working with Senator Hertzberg to recommend changes to Senate Bill 10:

'I am committed to meaningful bail reform in California. Over the past year, my office has worked with Senator Hertzberg and his staff to recommend changes to Senate Bill 10 that would improve the bail reform measure,' Los Angeles County District Attorney Jackie Lacey said. 'I am pleased that many of our recommendations were adopted as proposed amendments to the bill. I will continue to work with Senator Hertzberg and other lawmakers to reform the state’s bail system.'

[Los Angeles District Attorney Press Release, 8/25/2017]

2019: Lacey stated her support for the final Senate Bill 10. In September 2019, Lacey issued a statement stating her support for the final Senate Bill 10, 'I support the new state law and oppose any effort to roll back the bail reform measures we have put in place in California over the past few years.' Lacey offered further remarks in support of the bill:

I recently was asked about my position on bail reform and want to reiterate my commitment to reforming the existing monetary bail system.

I envision a pretrial release procedure that maintains public safety, ensures court appearances and protects victims’ rights without disproportionately affecting low income arrestees.

My office worked closely with Senator Robert Hertzberg and his staff on changes to Senate Bill 10. I am pleased with the collaboration that led to many of our recommendations being adopted as amendments to the final bill that was passed by the Legislature and signed into law by Governor Edmund G. 'Jerry' Brown Jr.

I support the new state law and oppose any effort to roll back the bail reform measures we have put in place in California over the past few years.

Cash bail keeps people who cannot pay in jail while those who have the resources are allowed to go free. For public safety reasons, we should release people awaiting trial on serious charges using unbiased assessments of the threat they pose and the likelihood that they will flee.

I will continue to work with Senator Hertzberg and other lawmakers to implement bail and other vital criminal justice reforms.

[Los Angeles District Attorney Message, 9/2019]

Lacey's campaign website claimed she supported SB 10. As of December 2019, Lacey's campaign website said:

Prosecutors should support reform that ensures people aren’t punished for being poor, but ensures safety, fairness and justice. That’s why DA Lacey supported California Senate Bill 10, a pioneering law passed in 2018 that drastically reformed the state’s cash bail system by transitioning from our existing system to a pretrial release program that protects public safety while maintaining the liberty of the person accused. This transformational program would maximize public resources, protect victim’s rights, and ensure court appearances continue without disproportionately hurting low-income arrestees.

[Web Archive, Jackie Lacey for LA County District Attorney “Issues," 12/18/2019]

LA Times: 'disheartening' that Lacey hasn't embraced reforms like ending cash bail given high incarceration rate in county. In February 2019, the Los Angeles Times reported it was "disheartening that Los Angeles County’s top prosecutor, Dist. Atty. Jackie Lacey, hasn’t embraced some criminal justice reforms," as Los Angeles County had a “significantly higher” incarceration rate than the state average. According to The Times:

Lacey has opposed key reforms, such as ending cash bail, that could bring that rate down. Criminal justice is supposed to be about safety, not wealth. But that’s not how our bail system operates... a person who is wealthy and charged with a serious offense can purchase his or her freedom while people who struggle to make ends meet are locked in jail on comparatively minor charges.

[Los Angeles Times, 2/27/2019]

Lacey in 2019: ‘I opposed... provisions of the original bill to do away with cash bail.’ In February 2019, Lacey reportedly wrote to the Los Angeles Times:

I want to set the record straight: I support criminal justice reform that does not jeopardize our safety... I opposed... provisions of the original [bail reform] bill to do away with cash bail in California.

Corruption and Conflict of Interest

Corruption and Conflict of Interest Highlights ● On multiple occasions, Lacey's office has been accused of mishandling corruption cases and evidence. In 2016 her office "blew it" and "undermined their own case" when prosecuting corruption cases against three Irwindale officials where prosecutors "mishandled evidence" and the cases subsequently "collapsed." ● From 2012 to 2016 Lacey accepted over $10,000 worth of gifts from pro-police sources including criminal defense attorneys, police-unions, business owners, prosecutors in her office and others who could have an interest in influencing her decisions," creating issues with conflicts of interest. The gifts that Lacey accepted reportedly exceeded totals disclosed by district attorneys in similar California regions. ● Lacey was accused of showing "preferential treatment" in handling the case of a firefighter convicted of assault who was represented by her former campaign finance director. The firefighter was reportedly allowed to keep his job after being permitted to plead the felony assault charge down to only a misdemeanor and serving probation and community service instead of multiple years in prison. ● In 2010 and 2009 "Lacey gave conflicting testimony under oath" which she blamed on "blood sugar issues." She reportedly said in 2010, "That afternoon [in 2009] I was really tired and I just, obviously, was confused...I have blood-sugar issues in the afternoon where I lose concentration quite a bit." ● In 2018, a public corruption specialist accused Lacey's office of using "intimidation and an excessive show of force" on Malibu Mayor pro-tem Jefferson Wagner, who was the "only dissenting vote on the City Manager’s contract amidst a brewing scandal at City Hall." The City Manager, Reva Feldman, had a "relationship with a close relative of Villaraigosa," and Villaraigosa "personally sought to persuade [Wagner] and two other council members to renew the City Manager’s contract with the City." One year later, Lacey's office was again accused of treating Malibu elected officials as if they were "immune to prosecution" when the head of the Public Integrity Division displayed "bias" on a criminal complaint against Malibu council members Skylar Peak and Rick Mullen.

Failure to Prosecute Corruption

Lacey’s office ‘blew it’ in prosecuting city official corruption case in 2016. According to the Los Angeles Times in March 2016, corruption cases Lacey's office brought against three Irwindale officials "collapsed" after a series of legal missteps. The Los Angeles Times reported,

The [case's] dismissal followed a series of legal setbacks for the office. An appellate court dismissed an early round of charges after concluding that prosecutors failed to present grand jurors with evidence favorable to the defendants. And the case began to crumble again when a judge ruled last year that the D.A.'s office waited too long to file criminal charges, missing the deadline for prosecuting many of the offenses.... 'To me, the D.A. blew it,' Sal Hernandez, the former [Irwindale] councilman [who alerted prosecutors to possible corruption] said in a recent interview. 'I'm just appalled.'

When asked about this corruption case, Lacey reportedly issued a statement saying that her DA's office has "successfully prosecuted more public officials for corruption than anywhere else in California" while facing "unique legal challenges." [Los Angeles Times, 4/4/2016]

Lacey’s office accused of 'mishandling' evidence in case regarding Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum bribery scandal, forced to bargain for lesser pleas in 2016. According to the Los Angeles Times in August 2016, a grand jury issued a “sweeping list of felony charges” against officials at the publicly owned Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum in a case involved over $2 million in taxpayer funds in bribes and kickbacks. However,

A series of blunders by two separate teams of prosecutors in the Coliseum saga, who have acknowledged twice mishandling evidence, forced them to the bargaining table with defense attorneys.

As a result, the concert promoters have been allowed to plead no contest to misdemeanor counts in deals that guarantee they will not spend a single day behind bars…

‘It appears that the prosecutors are cutting their losses,’ said Gerald Uelmen, a retired Santa Clara University law school professor. He said the bungling of evidence by the district attorney’s Public Integrity Division likely caused the office to fear the case otherwise could get tossed out entirely due to prosecutorial misconduct.

Bruce Green, director of the Louis Stein Center for Law and Ethics at Fordham Law School, said district attorneys should avoid accepting gifts from employees, defense attorneys and business executives within their jurisdictions.

'Public officials are supposed to be disinterested, but prosecutors in particular are supposed to be disinterested,' Green said. 'They have extraordinary power to destroy people's lives. And you want them to act in a disinterested way, not with an eye toward profiting.'

[Los Angeles Times, 8/28/2016]

Preferential Treatment

Lacey’s office dropped voter fraud and perjury cases against former LA councilman in 2019. According to the Los Angeles Times in May 2019, Lacey's office announced that it would not retry voter fraud and perjury cases against former Los Angeles Councilman Richard Alarcon and his wife. Los Angeles County prosecutors reportedly alleged in 2010 that the Alarcons "[lied] about where they lived so that Alarcon could run for a council seat," with Alarcon "originally convicted of three charges of fraudulent voting and one charge of perjury" and his wife "convicted of two charges of fraudulent voting and one perjury count." The Los Angeles Times reported,

Thursday's decision represented a major reversal for Lacey's office, which announced three years ago that prosecutors planned to retry the Alarcons. In a statement, Lacey's office said that prosecutors still believe the evidence in the case 'demonstrates the guilt of both defendants.'

'However, given that both defendants satisfactorily completed their sentences, we recognize that the law precludes any additional punishment following a retrial,' the statement from the district attorney's office said.

'Therefore, we have made the decision to not seek a retrial of either defendant in the interest of justice.'

Alarcon reportedly said he felt "completely exonerated" by the prosecutors' decision. [Los Angeles Times, 5/9/2019]

Lacey accused of giving ‘preferential treatment’ to fireman convicted of assault. According to the Los Angeles Times in February 2019, Lacey was accused of showing "preferential treatment" to Eric

Carpenter, a Los Angeles firefighter convicted of assault in 2015. Carpenter reportedly restrained Samuel Chang in a chokehold for six minutes, resulting in severe in juries to Chang. The Los Angeles Times reported,

[Chang's lawyer] said [the $7.4 million payout] does not make up for being victimized twice -- first on the street and then in the courts, where he accused Dist. Atty. Jackie Lacey of giving Carpenter preferential treatment.

Carpenter's lawyer, Michael Goldstein, served as Lacey's campaign finance director when she was elected in 2012 and donated thousands of dollars to her political accounts over the years, according to campaign finance records. Goldstein and the district attorney's office denied that the lawyer's connections to Lacey had anything to do with Carpenter's plea deal.

The Los Angeles Times reported that Carpenter kept his job after being permitted to plead the felony assault charge down to a misdemeanor; instead of serving up to seven years in prison he was sentenced to three years of probation and 135 days of community service. [Los Angeles Times, 2/6/2019]

Conflicting Testimony

LA Times: ‘Lacey gave conflicting testimony under oath’ in 2009 and 2010 and attributed it to 'blood sugar issues.' According to the Los Angeles Times in May 2012, "Lacey gave conflicting testimony under oath" in 2009 and 2010. The Los Angeles Times reported that "Lacey testified at a July 2009 [union grievance hearing]" where she "agreed that she also told the same prosecutor... that [District Attorney Steve Cooley] thought the union would be a disaster and that he didn't like the union, according to a transcript from the hearing." Six months later, Lacey reportedly testified at another grievance hearing for the same union dispute that "she never told the prosecutor that Cooley didn't like the union or thought it would be a disaster." According to the Los Angeles Times,

Lacey, then an assistant district attorney, said she had misunderstood some of the questions posed during the July 2009 hearing and realized her mistake after reading a transcript of her testimony.

'That afternoon I was really tired and I just, obviously, was confused,' she said during the January 2010 hearing. 'I have blood-sugar issues in the afternoon where I lose concentration quite a bit.'

[Los Angeles Times, 5/20/2019]

Retaliation Against Rival

LA Daily News: Lacey ‘relegated former rival Alan Jackson’ to lower position in DA’s office. According to The Daily News of Los Angeles, after winning her 2012 election, Lacey "relegated former rival Alan Jackson to a position where he would rarely see the inside of a courtroom." During his campaign Jackson reportedly emphasized his "prosecutorial skills and courtroom experience as assistant head deputy of the DA's elite Major Crimes Division." The Daily News reported,

Lacey made [Jackson] assistant head deputy of the DA's Complaint Division, which decides which cases prosecutors should file, based on the amount of evidence available. Every so often, they oversee arraignments....

[Jackson] earlier told the Los Angeles Times that the reassignment was a 'move backward in my career' that was designed to remove him from the courtroom.

[The Daily News of Los Angeles, 12/19/2012]

Irresponsible Employment Practices

Lacey’s employees worked unpaid overtime to meet budget constraints in 2013. According to a 2013 report by the Los Angeles County Auditor-Controller, employees at the Los Angeles County District Attorney's Office, led by Lacey, worked unpaid overtime "to stay within their overtime budget." According to the report,

We reviewed time records for 34 hourly employees from two divisions/bureaus, covering a 12-month period, and noted significant inconsistencies. For 30 (88%) employees, we noted 251 separate instances where the sign-in sheets and timecards did not match, including 161 (64%) instances where the sign-in sheets indicated that employees were absent, but the employees' timecards indicated they were at work. In the other 90 (36%) instances, we noted the employees' timecards showed they did not work, even though the units' sign-in sheets showed the employees were at work.

reported that a warrant was authorized to raid the properties and businesses of Malibu Mayor pro-tem Jefferson Wagner two days after Wagner was the "only dissenting vote on the City Manager’s contract amidst a brewing scandal at City Hall with allegations of bribery, corruption, money laundering and tax evasion." According to Rob Joseph, a public corruption specialist,

The actions taken by the District Attorney’s office is in my opinion, an attempt by individuals within City Hall who have ties to gubernatorial candidate Antonio Villaraigosa to remove or disqualify Mayor pro tempore Jefferson Wagner from taking office as Mayor of the City in January 2019.

According to The Local, Wagner "has been a long time resident of Malibu and owner of Zuma Jay’s Surf Shop." Reportedly:

... Actions commenced by the District Attorney’s Officer [sic] that appeal [sic] to be a clear exercise in intimidation and an excessive show of force or color of authority by officer’s from the DA’s office on what originally was an alleged paper violation for construction without a permit and a possible illegal home based business... Wagner then received notice after my contact with the DA’s Office this that there was ‘no violation’ and ‘no action being taken’. At this point, it was disclosed from a number of individuals including Jefferson Wagner that Antonio Villaraigosa had personally sought to persuade him and two other council members to renew the City Manager’s contract with the City. Two of the council members were persuaded to change their positions and vote to renew the contract while Wagner went on record to oppose the contract renewal. Reva Feldman is believed to have had a relationship with a close relative of Villaraigosa, a relationship that Villaraigosa has continued to nurture and maintain today.

[The Local, 6/1/2018]

Lacey's Public Integrity Division accused of treating Malibu elected officials as 'immune to prosecution' in 2019. In June 2019, The Local reported that Letters of Intent to Recall were served on council members Skylar Peak and Rick Mullen for "refusing to follow through on campaign promises to clean house at City Hall and conduct themselves in a legal and ethical manner as a council member." However, one of the organizers of the recall was later contacted by a signer of the recall letters:

Asking to remove his name from the recall after 'long talks with Skylar and Reva', who in turn promised to officially support the proponent’s project (they previously rejected before the recall process began), in exchange for withdrawing his name and support from the recall... The project, costing $2.2 million dollars in public and private funding, was immediately calendared on the City agenda after the agreement was made by both parties, and has moved forward with support of

the City, at the request of council member Skylar Peak... Shortly after the first 5-0 vote supporting the project went on record, council member Rick Mullen enlisted his personal resources to assist in furthering the project.

After being made aware of this "illegal conduct by City Officials," representatives of the recall initiative field criminal complaints with the Los Angeles District Attorney’s Office, "where they were directed to" Alan Yochelson, the head of the Public Integrity Division. However, "Yochelson’s demeanor with organizers showed he wasn’t especially interested in any transgressions committed by city officials, as if they were somehow immune to prosecution." Yochelson reportedly told the recall representatives that filing criminal complaints "won’t help you get a leg up on the recall." Representatives of the recall then wrote a letter to Lacey to inform her of the "bias displayed by Yochelson" to remind her of the "high profile raids on Mayor Jefferson Wagner’s homes and business last year, just days after voting against the renewal of City Manager Reva Feldman’s contract for a second time." According to The Local, "The actions of the D.A.’s office have been traced back to City Manager Reva Feldman, who has close ties to Antonio Villaraigosa," who in turn has "close ties to DA Lacey and supported her last campaign." [The Local, 7/7/2019; 6/24/2019

Immigration

Protecting Witnesses from Deportation

Lacey ‘reversed course’ on opposition to protecting nonviolent drug offenders from deportation in October 2019 after reporters questioned her position. In October 2019, The Daily Beast reported Lacey’s office “reversed course” and dropped an effort to dismantle “key protections from deportation for nonviolent drug offenders in California”:

A spokesman for Lacey… said that the office’s effort was ‘strictly limited to legal analysis’ at the behest of an appeals court judge, and it had asked the court to ‘withdraw the office’s legal opinion once we determined the potential consequences of that scholarly opinion.’

However, the legal wrangling in this case had been going on since last year, and parties including Los Angeles Public Defender Ricardo García and state Attorney General Xavier Becerra had filed briefs siding against the DA’s office starting early last month. The DA’s attorneys were set to give oral arguments before California’s 2nd Appellate District Court last Thursday, contending that these protections for immigrants were unconstitutional.

Last Tuesday, 16 hours after being contacted for this story, Lacey sent a letter withdrawing the opinion and the request for oral arguments.

[The Daily Beast, 10/30/2019]

Seniors

Elder Abuse

Lacey declined to file charges of elder abuse against widow of radio personality Casey Kasem. In May 2015, CBS Los Angeles reported Lacey declined to file charges of elder abuse against Jean Kasem, the widow of radio personality Casey Kasem, citing insufficient evidence. Reportedly, Jean Kasem was "stripped of control" over her husband's medical care after removing him from a medical facility where he was receiving "around-the-clock care" and taking him to a friend's home in Washington. Casey Kasem reportedly had server bedsores and dementia when he died. Kasem's daughter Kerri Kasem responded to Lacey's decision:

My family is very sad to learn the Los Angeles County District Attorney Jackie Lacey has decided not to file charges against Jean Kasem. We did everything we could to save my Dad at the end of his life, including getting an emergency court order for conservatorship. But we were too late... The Los Angeles County District Attorney, with her professed interest in ending elder abuse, could do more... It’s a sad day in our country when our parents, family members and loved ones die at the hands of others, and our elected prosecutors elect to do nothing.

[CBS Los Angeles, 5/22/2015]

Questionable Disbursements

Lacey used Pluvious Group for LA fundraiser; Pluvious involved with Trump campaigns and 2016 Strickland money laundering plot. According to the Los Angeles Times in December 2019, Lacey "cut ties" with the Pluvious Group, a political fundraiser, after learning of the organization's involvement with the Trump campaign. The Los Angeles Times reported,

Trey Kozacik of the Pluvious Group sent fundraising emails on behalf of the Lacey campaign, and his name appeared on a flier promoting a $1,500-per-person event at a downtown sushi restaurant in support of Lacey’s reelection bid held Thursday night.....Kozacik confirmed Friday that he had helped set up the Lacey fundraiser in downtown L.A. this week.

In April 2019 Kozacik of the Pluvious Group was reportedly a "point of contact on an invitation to a fundraiser in Los Angeles for Trump's reelection campaign." The DCCC reported in July 2019,

In 2018, Pluvious was involved in a Federal probe regarding a more than suspicious breakfast event that Pluvious organized at President Trump’s D.C. Hotel. The breakfast was part of a Federal criminal 'investigation into whether foreigners contributed money to the Trump inaugural fund and PAC by possibly using American intermediaries.

The Sacramento Bee reported in May 2016 that Pluvious "ran" the campaign of former California legislator Tony Strickland who was accused of money laundering by the FPPC, and further reported that Pluvious "set up many of the illegal donations, and...[was] aware of the money laundering plot." [Los Angeles Times, 12/7/2019; DCCC, 7/2/2019; The Sacramento Bee, 5/9/2016]

Questionable Donors

Cash from Criminals

LA Times in 2019: Contributors to Lacey include 'people accused of serious crimes or misconduct, or relatives and associates of the accused.' According to the Los Angeles Times in March 2019, in Lacey's first campaign for LA County district attorney "she loathed asking people for

money," but in the 2020 election cycle, "Lacey seems to rake in contributions with ease... despite the fact that Lacey did not hold public campaign events." The Los Angeles Times examined Lacey's campaign finance records and reported, “Many giving to Lacey are longtime contributors to local politicians, but others include people accused of serious crimes or misconduct, or relatives and associates of the accused”:

Among Lacey’s donors were the parents of a Sherman Oaks man awaiting a murder trial, a chiropractor facing insurance fraud charges in Orange County, a felon from Sun Valley convicted of trying to smuggle missile parts to Iran and a Glendale used car dealer previously sanctioned for an illegal campaign donation. After The Times asked Lacey about those contributors, her campaign returned donations to 13 individuals or business entities, totaling about $13,000... The contributions are at odds with the district attorney’s prior public statements about the ethics of campaign donations. Lacey condemned an opponent during the 2012 race for taking money from a man convicted of fraud a decade earlier.

[Los Angeles Times, 3/18/2019]

In 2012, Lacey accepted $1,500 from felon while condemning opponent for doing the same. According to the Los Angeles Times, during her 2012 campaign Lacey "blasted her opponent Alan Jackson for taking campaign contributions from a convicted felon who served prison time for his role in a multimillion-dollar mortgage loan scheme in the late 1990s." The Lacey campaign reportedly stated that it was "[Jackson's] job to know" about the background of his donors. The Los Angeles Times reported in 2012 that Lacey accepted $1,500 contributions each from Kip Cyprus and his wife; Cyprus was described as a "real estate developer who was convicted on federal charges in a similar scheme." A campaign consultant for Lacey reportedly stated that "Lacey had never met or spoken to Cyprus or his wife and that Cyprus' legal issues did not come up when the campaign vetted the checks," and added that the Lacey campaign would return the contributions. [Los Angeles Times, 10/27/2012]

Lacey accepted $3,000 from parents of man charged with first-degree murder. According to the County of Los Angeles Registrar-Recorder, in September 2017 and December 2018 Lacey accepted $1,500 each from Svetlana and Vadim Baranovsky, who the Los Angeles Times reported in March 2019 were the parents of Gregory Baranovsky, a Los Angeles resident who was arrested for first-degree murder in 2018. The Los Angeles Times reported,

[In 2016] with [Gregory] Baranovsky still cycling through the courts, his parents did something that public records indicate they had never done before: They made a political contribution. Svetlana Baranovsky, a physician, and her music producer husband, Vadim, each gave $1,500 to Lacey’s