"Well, it’s also true," Siddall replied. "Look, I’m the vice president of the Association of Deputy DA’s. We represent the line of prosecutors who are seeing the effects of George Gascon’s policies. 98% of our prosecutors at the line prosecutors voted to endorse the recall of this current DA because they see the effects of his policies."
Vice President of the Los Angeles Association of Deputy District Attorneys, Eric Siddall, speaks to Dr. Phil on Monday. (CBS screenshot)
LOS ANGELES COUNTY DISTRICT ATTORNEY GEORGE GASCON CREATING RACIAL JUSTICE ACT SECTION
Dr. Phil noted, "LA County has had a lot of early prison releases, and one of those, Gascon’s directive allowed the release of suspect Andrew Cachu. He was serving a 50-year-to-life sentence for murder, rearrested for drug, firearm, and fleeing from police charges - what happened with him?"
Siddall slammed the case as grim example of Gascon’s "ideologically-based" policy.
"The DA said no person who’s ever committed a crime while they were a juvenile should ever be held accountable as a criminal,’" he said. "In other words, because of the way that the juvenile justice system works in California, their jurisdiction ends at 25, which means that the only way to properly hold some juveniles accountable for heinous acts is to send them to the criminal system so that they can be in custody for longer than 25 or after 25 years old."
The deputy DA rep said that Cachu was one of these cases, and warned that Gascon’s policies enabled him to commit further crimes.
"George Gascon, not using a case-by-case analysis, not looking at the individual facts, made a decision that all people in that guy’s situation should be released [at age 25], and of course, he was released and is now charged with another crime," he said. "The problem with these ideological prosecutors is they have no plan about what to do with these people once they get back on the street."
Siddall went on to explain the mindset of those like Gascon who allow potentially dangerous people back into society.
Los Angeles County District Attorney George Gascon lost a retaliation lawsuit when a jury awarded one of his prosecutors a $1.5 million judgment. (ason Armond / Los Angeles Times via Getty Images)
"Their whole thing is, it’s like a hope and a prayer. ‘Let’s hope and pray that they do better,’ instead of actually doing something that makes everyone else safe but also makes sure that person gets the services they need," he said. "It’s really unfair not just only to the victim, but also to the defendant, especially if the defendant has a mental health issue."