The Poway synagogue killer — I am leaving out his name to deprive him of the attention he clearly craves — pleaded guilty to murder, attempted murder and a firearms violation in exchange for avoiding the death penalty and agreeing to a sentence of life without parole, as the New York Times reports here.
See the death penalty does work. Its very existence creates an incentive to plead guilty.
I remember talking to then Los Angeles District Attorney Gil Garcetti about the death penalty when he was supporting a ballot measure to end it. Garcetti said that using capital punishment to reach a plea deal would be “an unethical thing to do” and LA. would never do it. He said it so sincerely, I would have believed him if I didn’t know better.
Here’s a paper by Kent Scheidegger of the Criminal Justice Legal Foundation that shows that
The average county with the death penalty disposes of 18.9% of murder cases with a plea and a long sentence, compared to 5.0% in counties without the death penalty
Big dif.
While plea bargains can be controversial, they have one undeniable benefit: They spare the families of murder victims and other victims the trauma of a trial.
Also, when killers plead guilty, they have fewer grounds for lengthy costly appeals.
<iframe title="vimeo-player" src="
width="640" height="360" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>
L.A.’s current District Attorney George Gascon says he won’t go for the death penalty, but it did not stop him from using lethal injection as leverage to win a guilty plea in this case.
The killer is expected to accept a sentence of life without parole — which is odd because Gascon is telling his prosecutors not to seek any more. Maybe it’s a career thing.
I’ve watched Gascon as a greased career path landed him in plum positions — San Francisco Police Chief, San Francisco District Attorney, Los Angeles District Attorney — despite his dubious track record. He clearly knows how to play to authorities above him.
I’ll never forget his decision to prosecute the aunt of a young girl hit by a hit-and-run driver, when authorities never caught the hit-and-run driver. Aunt Loyresha Gage’s crime, she let go of niece Mi’yana Gregory’s hand when crossing the street. But Gascon lacked the humanity to see an accident for what it was.
Fortunately, a jury showed more commonsense than lawman.
Gage has no criminal convictions. She has no known history of child endangerment or neglect. Even helicopter parents sometimes make a mistake.
If there’s a pattern for Gascon’s decisions, it’s chasing headlines, not justice.
Debra J. Saunders is a fellow at the Discovery Institute's Chapman Center for Citizen Leadership. Contact her at dsaunders@discovery.org.
Recall Gascon! By any means necessary.
Life Without the Possibility of Parole is a real bad sentence. My husband was murdered by two teenagers, one 15 year old who was released on the day he turned 25, went back to LA and killed another person. The 16 year old was given a Life without Parole sentence, but thanks to
the former Senator Leland Yee, after a 6 year fight by victim suvivors, got passed NO MORE LIFE WITHOUT PAROLE sentences for juveniles. I have now had two parole hearings in which the killer was given three more year after each hearing...I think they are getting ready to release him...THERE IS NO justice for Victim Survivors. Maggie , formally from Doris Tate Crime Victims Bureau and Crime Victims United of CA.