State high court orders review of gun enhancement case from LA

A bail bondsman, supported by Los Angeles County District Attorney George Gascon, was granted review by the state Supreme Court of a pretrial sentence enhancement alleging he used a gun to threaten and extort clients and commit carjacking and kidnapping.

Petitioner Rehan Nazir was charged in 2019 by then DA Jackie Lacey, who filed dozens of criminal counts alleging he used his position as the owner of a bail bonds business to threaten and extort clients, sometimes with a gun.

Lacey was defeated in November by George Gascon, who ordered his prosecutors to seek withdrawal of gun, gang and other sentencing enhancements.

Nazir's attorney, Bruce A. Zucker of Kravis, Graham, & Zucker LLP, filed a petition in March for a writ of mandate with the high court arguing Superior Court Judge Lee W. Tsao's rejection of a motion to remove the enhancement was an abuse of his discretion and a violation of separation of powers.

Nazir's appeal petition was supported by Gascon, who argued elected prosecutors cannot do their jobs "if they are forced to charge enhancements and seek penalties that, in the elected prosecutor's judgment, do not advance public safety or serve the interests of justice."

Zucker reacted to the high court's, for now, favorable ruling in a phone interview Friday. "This is new territory," he said. "I've been doing writs and appeals for 21 years, and I've been doing it on an appointed basis, on a retainer basis, and on pro bono, and I've never seen a procedural posture like this before."

In a brief May 26 order, the high court sent the case back to the 2nd District Court of Appeal, which had summarily denied Nazir's writ petition, with instructions to vacate that order and issue a new one directing the superior court judge to defend his rejection.

The issues raised in the case are at the heart of a preliminary injunction stemming from Superior Court Judge James C. Chalfant's decision that held Gascon's enhancement policy is unlawful. The DA is appealing that order.

Gascon moved to dismiss the enhancements in December pursuant to his special directive that requires prosecutors to only seek statutory punishment without applying laws that provide for enhancements. Judge Tsao denied the motion but granted time to amend the complaint without the enhancements, according to court filings. When the DA returned with the new complaint, the judge rejected it along with a subsequent written motion to dismiss the enhancements, saying it wasn't in the interest of justice.

District Attorney spokesman Alex Bastian said the DA is pleased with the high court's decision and will be evaluating whether he will file another brief in the 2nd District in support of Nazir's petition. The case is Nazir v. Superior Court (Los Angeles), S2767713.