George Gascón’s “Special Directives” as they relate to the pleading and proving of sentencing enhancements and allegations are illegal and unenforceable.

 By Robert Phillips, Deputy District Attorney (Ret). 

LA DA George Gascón and the Demise of his “Special Directives:”

George Gascón’s “Special Directives” as they relate to the pleading and proving of sentencing enhancements and allegations are illegal and unenforceable. 

When first elected to be Los Angeles County’s District Attorney in November, 2020, George Gascón immediately announced a number of “Special Directives.”  In a nutshell, these Special Directives (as relevant here) prohibited Los Angeles’ deputy district attorneys in most new cases from alleging in a charging document (i.e., complaint, information, or indictment) any prior serious or violent felony convictions (commonly referred to as “strikes”) under the three strikes law, or other “sentence enhancements” (e.g., firearm usage, GBI infliction, etc.).  The Directives also required deputy district attorneys in pending cases to move a trial court to dismiss or seek leave to remove from the charging document allegations of strikes and sentence enhancements. In potential capital cases, special circumstance allegations that could lead to a sentence of life without the possibility of parole were not to be alleged.  Gascón’s stated objectives in imposing these policies on his deputies were to promote the “interests of justice and public safety” by reducing long sentences that, in his never-to-be-so-humble opinion, “do little to deter crime.”  The obvious result of imposing this “progressive” philosophy upon his deputies is (and has been) the release of criminals back onto the streets years earlier than would have otherwise occurred. 

Well, the vast majority of his own deputies—not to mention a significant segment of the general public, as evidenced by the current effort to recall Gascón from office—do not agree with this philosophy.  As a result, the LA. Deputy DA Association filed suit to stop the insanity.  (See The Association of Deputy District ....

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