PERSONALLY IMPACTED BY POLICIES

Crime victims have been personally impacted by Los Angeles County District Attorney George Gascon’s irresponsible policies. Gascon’s lack of respect for victims’ rights is a slap in our face. These heart wrenching victim stories represent a small fraction of the injustices and devastation that crime victims have endured under Gascon’s policies and administration. Public safety is non-partisan and is important to everyone in Los Angeles County – including registered Democrats, Republicans and Independents. Gascon’s policies negatively impact every community, although the affects are most severely felt in marginalized communities where gang members are empowered and businesses are forced to close because they can not sustain the losses from smash and grab mob thefts.

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RAYMUNDO DURAN

Gang member Raymundo Duran should have been in prison, not the streets of L.A. County, on Monday when he shot a sheriff’s deputy in the back – and George Gascon is to blame for this.

Duran has a violent criminal history, including a manslaughter conviction. When Duran was arrested for possession of a firearm by a felon in 2022, Gascon failed to pursue a “strike” enhancement (for the manslaughter prior) that could have led to a sentence of six years in prison.

Instead, Duran got 16 months in a ridiculously lenient plea bargain. He likely served less than a year.

Seven months earlier, Duran committed a hit-and-run and led police on a televised chase while he was wanted for a parole violation. Gascon gave him probation, again failing to utilize a “strike” enhancement.

I’m relieved that a bulletproof vest saved the life of Deputy Samuel Aispuro and wish him a full and speedy recovery. I’m also angry, because this incident should never have happened in the first place. Gascon’s extreme policies protect criminals and put all of us at risk. Enough is enough.

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GASCON’S #3 CHARGED WITH 11 FELONIES

The shocking news that AG Bonta filed 11 felonies against Gascon’s top executive Diana Teran has significant implications for him, the County and the people of LA. Here are some questions the media should be asking:

• Why did Gascon hire Teran in 2021 when he knew she had been investigated in 2019 for allegedly illegally downloading sheriff’s deputies personnel records?
• Gascon had campaigned on a pledge to prosecute cops, did he know Teran would be bringing these stolen files with her to the DA’s office? Did he think they might be valuable to his mission?
• Was Gascon aware that Teran was utilizing these stolen records to update the DA’s Brady and ORWITS databases?
• There is virtually no chance Gascon was unaware of the AG’s investigation of Teran. Why did he promote her to the No 3 position in the office (in charge of prosecuting law enforcement officers) while she was under criminal investigation?
• After promoting her, why did he keep Teran in that high-profile and extremely sensitive position when he knew the AG was considering prosecuting her?
• What smoking gun does the AG have against Teran? Bonta and Gascon are political allies; this case wouldn’t have been filed unless the AG had rock solid evidence.
• What conversations did Gascon have with Teran about these illegally downloaded deputies’ personnel records, and how she came to possess them?
• Did he discuss these records with her before he hired her in January 2021? At the time she allegedly loaded them into a DA database in April 2021 (according to the AG complaint)? Before he promoted her in January 2024? After he promoted her?
• How much will the county have to pay to resolve the lawsuits that each of the 11 deputies will certainly file against the County for stealing their personnel files and improperly using them at the DA’s Office?
• How many convictions that Teran was involved with may now be reviewed and overturned as a result of her actions?
• Who is going to review the filing decisions Teran made that went against the recommendations of career DAs in the Justice System Integrity Division? Her lack of judgment and her bias against law enforcement have been exposed.
• Who is going to pay Teran’s legal bills for this intentional misconduct, knowing her legal fees will easily hit hundreds of thousands of dollars if not millions?

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