Let the DA's office know how you feel about Jessica's story:
- Email: GGascon@da.lacounty.gov / info@da.lacounty.gov
- Tweet them @LADAOffice
- Call the office: 213-974-3512
Fill out this form on the DA's website.
Be ready to sign the Recall Gascon petition in March.
Jessica Corde is the mother of a young man who was killed by gang members in 2009.
This week she had to attend the parole hearing of one of men who murdered her child ALONE, because of a new policy that LA County DA George Gascón enacted since he took office, that says prosecutors can NOT attend parole hearings. Instead, she had to see crime scene photos of her son's murder that she has never seen and relive some of the most horrible days of her life.
Yesterday, before the parole hearing decision, she talked to Gary & Shannon about her experience under this new policy, saying it puts an undue burden on family members and makes them relive the most horrible days of their lives.
After that interview, the parole board made their decision. Her son's murderer has been GRANTED PAROLE.
Today, Jessica joined Gary & Shannon again to talk about what happened, and what you're about to hear is even more heartbreaking than what you just heard. But it's something you NEED to hear because if George Gascon remains in office, many more families will have the same experience Jessica had this week.
Gascón has been angering people since he took office.
But this specific policy change really sparked outrage not only with prosecutors but with the families of victims..
In December, he issued a directive about parole hearings and indicated that the new policy of the DA's office is that prosecutors would NOT be allowed to attend parole hearing on behalf of families.
The directive said in part that the office of the DA's:
"default policy is that we will not attend parole hearings and will support in writing the grant of parole for a person who has already served their mandatory minimum period of incarceration, defined as their MEPD (Minimum Eligible Parole Date), YEPD (Youth Parole Eligible Date) or EPD (Elderly Parole Date). If the CDCR (California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation) has determined in their Comprehensive Risk Assessment that a person represents a 'high' risk for recidivism, the DDA (deputy district attorney) may, in their letter, take a neutral position on the grant of parole."
The directive also noted that the crime for which someone is convicted is:
"..of limited value in considering parole suitability years or decades later," that the value of a prosecutor's input in parole hearings is "also limited" and that "currently, sentences are being served that are much longer than the already lengthy mandatory minimum sentences imposed."
The office will continue to "meet its obligation to notify and advise victims under California law, and is committed to a process of healing and restorative justice for all victims,"
To make things worse, Alex Bastian, Gascón's special advisor, released a statement after the DA's office was criticized about this new directive. Bastain said:
"The role of a prosecutor, and their access to information ends at sentencing. The Parole Board, however, has all the pertinent facts and evaluations at their disposal. The Parole Board’s sole purpose is to objectively determine whether someone is suitable for release."