OC, LA DAs dispute what made killer accept life in prison deal

POMONA -- A convicted child rapist and double murderer pleaded guilty in a Los Angeles County courthouse Monday and accepted a plea deal of life without parole, following an appearance by Orange County District Attorney Todd Spitzer, who said he opposed LA DA George Gascón's policy, recently deemed illegal, to do away with sentence enhancements in most criminal matters

Kenneth Rasmuson, 59, pleaded no contest -- equivalent to a guilty plea -- in connection with the sexual assault and murder of two 6-year-old boys in the 1980s.

Spitzer had attempted to get the sentencing moved to Orange County after Gascón's policies were announced, because one of the victims was kidnapped in Anaheim Hills in 1981. He said he was happy Rasmuson took the life without parole deal.

However, after the hearing, he said he would only relinquish his claim to the case after Rasmuson is sentenced. He also said if it wasn't for his office getting involved and a judge ruling that Gascón's policies to do away with sentence enhancements was illegal, Rasmuson could have someday been released on parole.

"Let me tell you who pled no contest today. It was the Los Angeles district attorney's office," Spitzer said in front of the Pomona Courthouse. "They only offered this agreement for life without the possibility of parole not because Mr. Rasmuson said 'no contest' but because we had leverage. ... I had to file special circumstances murder charges in Orange County," which can bring the death penalty.

Spitzer said Gascón had ordered prosecutors to seek the dismissal of special circumstance and other allegations that would have added prison time to the double murder case. Spitzer said he got involved when he heard the prosecutors had under duress filed the motion to dismiss the sentence enhancements.

"The only leverage in this case was my case," Spitzer said in the hallway after the hearing. "The fact that Orange County DAs filed special circumstances, where we could consider death, did it force him, Rasmuson, to make a decision, finally, that he would plead to life without parole."

Gascón disputed many of Spitzer's claims.

"This was a heinous offense and this individual will not share the sidewalk with the rest of us," the LA County DA said in a statement. "The defendant was always facing life in prison, making the rhetoric from tough-on-crime voices incredibly dangerous and entirely removed from reality."

"Splitting this case up or seeking the death penalty in a state with a moratorium would have dragged the victims through decades of legal proceedings for an execution that is exceedingly unlikely to be imposed," Gascón continued. "Spending exorbitant amounts on a death penalty prosecution that is ultimately just for show would force the families of these victims to relive their trauma through decades of litigation. That's not in the interests of the victims, nor is it in the interests of the public."

Agreeing with Gascón, former Los Angeles District Attorney Gil Garcetti, father to Mayor Eric Garcetti, also spoke in front of the Pomona Courthouse, disputing some of Spritzer's claims.

"The man charged in both murders is facing life without the possibility of parole if convicted of either crime," Garcetti said. "The papers filed with the court by the Orange County district attorney is falsely claiming that District Attorney Gascón wants to 'open the prison doors, without any regard for the of the various types of criminals he will release into on the people of California.'"

"In other words, he is claiming if Rasmuson is convicted, he would both be eligible for parole and quickly released," Garcetti said. "This is an outrageously false assertion."

The case was consolidated in Los Angeles County because Rasmuson was found in Pomona and his second victim was abducted and found brutally stabbed in Agoura Hills. People v. Rasmuson, KA109311 (L.A. Sup. Ct., filed March 24, 2015).

Spitzer charged Rasmuson with one felony count of murder, one felony count of special circumstances of murder during the commission of a kidnapping, and one felony enhancement of the special circumstances of murder during a lewd or lascivious act on a child under the age of 14. These charges made Rasmuson eligible for the death penalty, according to a statement by the Spitzer's office.

Gascón and many of his deputies have been at odds since he took office in December and implemented new policies that required prosecutors to seek dismissals of enhancements that would add time to prison sentences for certain crimes.

After the Association of Deputy District Attorneys sued Gascón over his policies, Los Angeles Superior Court Judge James Chalfant ruled that forcing prosecutors to seek dismissal of sentence enhancements and to state in open court that doing so was in the interest of justice was unethical and unlawful. Association of Deputy District Attorneys v. Gascón, 20STCP04250 (Cal. Sup. Ct., led Dec. 30, 2020).