LA DA challenger proposes policies that already exist, but some groups say improvement is needed

Many of the sexual assault and domestic violence policies proposed by district attorney candidate George Gascon already exist in Los Angeles County, according to prosecutors and agencies that work with victims, but the agencies also say DA Jackie Lacey's office sometimes falls short when it comes to treating victims with sensitivity and confirmed Gascon's allegation that Lacey's office puts pressure on victims to cooperate in prosecution.

Section heads dealing with these crimes in Lacey's office said such procedures are rarely used, and only in very serious cases.

"In our experience ... if the DA wants to pick up the case, it kind of goes forward regardless of what the victim wants," said Julie Boynton, executive director of Project Sister Family Services, one of eight rape crisis agencies in LA County.

In an interview last week, Gascon accused Lacey's office of issuing body attachments and taking victims into custody if they didn't cooperate with prosecutors. "I've now heard it from multiple lawyers," Gascon said. "I've heard it also from ... the human trafficking community, and I've heard it from the [domestic violence] community."

Greg Risling, a spokesperson for Lacey's office, said that since the Human Sex Trafficking Section was created in September 2016, "it is estimated that between nine to 10 body attachments have been issued and released in human sex trafficking cases."

Boynton said she has seen Lacey's office use these methods in human trafficking cases, but not in the sexual assault cases she works on at Project Sister.

Lacey's office has issued body attachments in domestic violence cases, too, confirmed Ron Geltz, head deputy of the office's family violence division. But Geltz said the procedure is only used "in extremely rare situations, and I would say absolutely as a complete last resort ... that would only be in the most serious cases with criminal defendants that would have the most serious records, particularly if they have records of past violence against the same particular victim."

"I think I've seen a body attachment issued in these cases probably less than 10 times in my entire 33 years of experience in handling these kinds of cases," Geltz added.

In a statement released in January, Gascon, the former San Francisco DA, said if he were elected top prosecutor position in LA County he would provide sexual assault victims with alternatives to prosecution, and allow victims to read impact statements at the sentencing of serial sex offenders, even if their cases were uncharged. He would also push for rape kits to be tested more quickly, develop a sexual assault response team, build a better rapport with LGBTQ victims, and partner with college campuses to provide information about sexual assault.

In domestic violence cases, Gascon said he would never subject victims to body attachments; ensure they are protected from deportation by federal immigration authorities whether or not they cooperate with a prosecution; extend support services within 24 hours of an incident; and employ highly trained victim advocates in the DA's office.

George Gascon, challenger for Los Angeles County District attorney (New York Times News Service)

At Lacey's first appearance in a candidate debate last week in downtown LA, the incumbent DA addressed Gascon's policies. "His new report that just got put out, I looked at that," Lacey said. "Most of the things that he put in there, we were already doing, we were already implementing."

Prosecutors working in Lacey's sex crimes and family violence divisions, as well as advocates who work directly with victims through domestic violence and sex assault crisis agencies, confirmed Lacey's statement in interviews last week.

"The backlog on rape kits, developing a smart team, having the local colleges work with the DA's office and community partners -- these are all things that we're already doing," said Christina Jimenez, Project Sister's outreach coordinator.

"We don't need the DA to duplicate what the rape crisis agencies are already doing," Boynton said. "In our service area in east LA County -- in the San Gabriel Valley and we also serve the west end of San Bernardino County -- we have 16 colleges and universities in our service area alone."

Christina Buckley, head deputy of the sex crimes division in Lacey's office, said her division already works with victim services representatives, which was also proposed by Gascon in his January statement.

In the DA's office, a single representative works with the same victim from the beginning of the case through its conclusion, said DA spokesperson Shiara Davila-Morales. They also help connect the victim to local support services, Davila-Morales added.

Still, Boynton suggested that Lacey's office needs to improve on how it handles sexual assault cases. "We have a lot of victims that are non-binary or identify with other parts of the LGBTQ community, and they're not always treated as nicely as someone who doesn't have that layer of complication into their trauma," she said.

Boynton's experience with the DA's office also differs from how Buckley framed her division's policy on victims who don't want to move forward with prosecution.

"If a victim ever decides that for her or for him that it's just too much for them right now, and they just can't do it anymore, we understand that that happens, and when that happens we will announce 'unable to proceed' if that's where we find ourselves," Buckley said.

"For a defendant that is particularly scary ... we'll do our best to try and convince a victim to cooperate, to offer them service to offer them protection and relocation services and things of that nature," Buckley added. "If we can prove a case without a victim, we will try. But if we can't, which can happen, we just can't."

In contrast, Boynton observed that "once the DA picks it up and the case goes forward ... it goes forward without much regard to the victims." "That may vary from individual DAs. There may be some that are more sensitive than others," she continued. She noted that many cases never make it to the DA, especially if a victim declines to work with law enforcement officers, who "can get a little testy if someone is reluctant to fully cooperate."

Bernita Walker, executive director of domestic violence agency Project Peacemakers and a former LA County deputy sheriff, said prosecutors aren't always adequately versed in domestic violence issues, either. Walker, who said she wasn't speaking on behalf of Project Peacemakers but as a professional who has 40 years of experience working with domestic violence issues, administers 40-hour training sessions for professionals working on such cases. "As far as the DA's office is concerned, they have violence advocates that serve victims of crime. Not all of them have gone through the 40-hour training, I do believe."

Still, Walker said Gascon needed to acknowledge the network of domestic violence services that already exist in LA County. "We have committees, and each one of those groups can work on specific things: immigration, LGBTQ, the law, religion and domestic violence. We have law enforcement committees. Those are established in the county of LA." Referencing Gascon's plan to bring in "highly trained specialized victim advocates," Walker said, "We are highly trained."

Geltz, head deputy of the DA's family violence division, said domestic violence victims are often offered support services through the DA's office regardless of whether they cooperate with a prosecution, or whether prosecutors choose to pursue the case. "They still are entitled and often meet with victim services representatives for further assistance with their situation," Geltz said.

Boynton said sexual assault victims' agencies in LA County do need additional support in some areas, such as funding for more therapists. But she said this was not an issue "fixable by the DA's office." What the DA's office can improve on is prosecuting cases more quickly and helping victims understand that the DA files cases on behalf of the state, not individual victims, Boynton said. She added that Gascon "doesn't need to recreate a whole system within the DA's office, but he does need to partner and elevate what is happening with the DA's office, and partner with his community support people."

But there is one proposed policy by Gascon that Boynton, Jimenez, and Walker agreed would be beneficial to victims of sexual assault and domestic violence. "One of his policy proposals under sexual assault was to increase survivors' voice and choice, which is again allowing the survivor the opportunity to decide how they want the case to be handled," said Jimenez. "I think it's a very big thing, because sometimes we have survivors that don't want to come forward and report because they have already heard of what the process looks like and they don't want it. All they really want is the abuser to take accountability."

Gascon said that while he would try to pursue prosecution even if a victim declines to cooperate, his proposed policy would give victims more flexibility in how they participate in the process if they do decide to work with prosecutors. "There are going to be some survivors that want to ensure the case is going to be fully prosecuted through the judicial process. There are some survivors that are not going to want to engage in the process at all. And there may be other survivors who prefer to have an alternative to the prosecution process but they want to have accountability," Gascon said. "We're going to meet the survivor where she is at that moment and try to tailor our approach to what is going to be better for that person at that moment ... because there are initial roller coasters that people are going to go through when they're traumatized, and where they are today may be slightly different from where they're going to be three months or three weeks or six months down the line." "We should be flexible enough to work with them, within the parameters of the law obviously, to continue to provide that support," he added.

Jimenez also emphasized the importance of Gascon's proposed policy of allowing sexual assault victims to read victim impact statements at the sentencing of serial sex offenders, regardless of whether or not their own case was charged. "I think [it] is very powerful for survivors ... especially survivors who are coming forward and coming at a later time and do not fit under the ... statute of limitations," she said. "Just because the statute doesn't apply to their case, they still have the opportunity to talk about how that offender has impacted their life."