From the time that the plea agreement in the KetMoRee stabbing was announced, it was more than a bit of a head scratcher for me. While it wasn’t that shocking that the DA was willing to go to voluntary manslaughter and a stipulated 24-year sentence as opposed to murder and a life sentence for the main defendant, given the known facts of the case, the fact that they allowed the other defendants to walk was nothing short of stunning.
One question that I – and others I have spoken to as well – have had is why wouldn’t the DA’s office at least get the five co-defendants on gang charges and go for prison time, especially since several were involved in an attack on someone at the jail?
We know that at times the DA’s office will take into account the family of the victim. For instance, the DA’s office probably would have preferred to seek the death penalty in the Robert Hodges triple murder case, but the family wanted the case resolved and Mr. Hodges accepted responsibility in exchange for life without parole and so the DA respected the wishes of the family.
I know in at least one high profile case, the family of the victim played a huge role in the relatively lenient sentence.
But a letter from Henry Gonzales, father of the victim, Peter Gonzales, demonstrates a level of anger that suggests that the sentence and plea agreement was not done at the behest of the family.
Unfortunately Mr. Gonzales blames the judge when the judge was not the one who had anything to do with this.
Mr. Gonzales writes: “Today, I intend to enlighten the communities of Northern California about Judge David Rosenberg’s unjustifiable actions in my son’s case.”
He continues: “My family and I stand as members of society, greatly impacted by the lenient punishment given to six murderers. Punishment in the justice system is supposed to protect the interests of the victims, discourage others from committing similar crimes, and protect society as a whole.”
Mr. Gonzales then writes: “This past December, three of the six men who killed my son also used forks to severely harm another inmate while in jail. And despite knowing their need for violence, Judge Rosenberg dismissed five of the active gang members from charges for the murder of my son Peter in exchange for one to take the blame.
“He allowed the other five guilty men to suffer no consequences for taking a life. This week, the other two involved in the jail fight received a short five months in jail (after credits) for attempting to take another life simply because they apologized.”
According to Henry Gonzales: “The people of Davis, the Davis Police Department and Yolo County DA’s Office need to know that their efforts are being thwarted by a judge who simply doesn’t care about the wellbeing of their communities. The justice system does not work if officials like Judge Rosenberg do not do their part in acting in the public interest.
“Judge Rosenberg has taught gang members many things,” he said. “First, if you commit or aid and abet a murder, you will not be punished. Second, if you apologize for a heinous crime, he will not look at your repeated history of violent crimes, but instead, give you another chance to repeat it. In fact, Judge Rosenberg will not even look at any admissible evidence presented by the prosecution.”
He concludes: “With Judge Rosenberg on the stand, we all have reason to fear for our lives.”
Our hearts go out to Henry Gonzales, the father of a murder victim. We cannot imagine the pain and suffering he has had to endure for more than two years after the loss of his son. The problem here is that, while his pain is understandable, he is aiming his anger at the wrong target.
The reason the charges were dismissed against the five co-defendants had nothing to do with the judge. It was not the judge who initiated dismissing the charges. It was the prosecutor in the case. If hard questions are to be asked they should be asked of the elected district attorney, not a judge who was simply doing his job.
Unfortunately the time of grief is not a great time to learn a civics lessons. I find myself in the position of teaching relatives, usually of the accused, about how the system actually works.
In the legal system we are, for reasons unapparent to me, taught that the judge is the most powerful actor in the court. Why wouldn’t we believe that? After all, a judge is the neutral party, the arbiter of the law, and the administrator of justice.
But in the real world the most powerful agent is not the judge, but the prosecutor. Step by step, judicial discretion has been taken away from judges. That was intended to rein in lenient judges and impose mandatory sentencing schemes.
The most powerful agent in the courtroom is by far the prosecutor and it has been probably so since the start of the system. It is the prosecutor who makes the decision as to who to charge, when to charge, and what to charge the defendant with.
It is the prosecutor who has the power of plea bargain, to accept a lesser conviction and dismiss remaining charges. That is what happened here.
Unfortunately in this case, no one has asked the DA’s office to explain why they dismissed outright the charges against the five co-defendants. The letter from Mr. Gonzales makes the matter all the more urgent, but someone needs to let him know that he should be asking these questions of the prosecutor, not the judge.
—David M. Greenwald reporting
Maybe I’m confused, and maybe I need a lesson in civics, or jurisprudence.
It’s always been my understanding that once charges are formally filed with the court, only the judge assigned to the case has the ultimate authority to dismiss or a charge.
The defense can “move for (request) dismissal,” so can the DA. And when both agree, its almost always granted. But I’m pretty sure the DA cannot summarily retract his/her own charges once it reaches the realm of the court.
That is correct. The DA has to move to dismiss charges.
Phil, I clarified that David meant it was not the judge who initiated dismissing the charges.
cathy
Thanks Cathy. My point is that the Judge isn’t making the call there, when the prosecutor moves to dismiss charges, I don’t many judges would keep them imposed.
And my point, re-asserted, is that the judge does make the final call.
So you believe that the criticism of Judge Rosenberg was warranted?
I do not pretend to know the fine points of our judicial system with regard to finalization of charges. What I do know is that for the first time since Jeff Reisig became the Yolo County DA, he has an opponent for his position. Dean Johannson has announced his candidacy for this position. Given the power of the DA in Yolo County, I would strongly urge everyone to look at his Web page, his history as both a prosecutor and defender, and his positions on issues of great importance to our communities and decide which of these qualified men most closely represents your opinions and values.
If Johannson was the current DA, do you have reason to believe the outcome of the topic case would have been different?
Or just a general comment?
Curiosity question: what constitutes “a reason to believe” in this context?
Howard
General comment for information only. While tabling, I became aware that very few Yolo County residents ( at least those I met ) seem to be aware of even who the current DA is, let alone that he is not running unopposed again. Given the power that the DA has, I feel the need to get the word out that there is another candidate for voter consideration.
Fair answer for what was intended as a fair question. Thanks!
And you are correct…most elected offices have a lot of inertia for the incumbent… right, or wrong, just is…
I asked, Tia answered.
So, to turn tables David, what do you intend by asking, “what constitutes “a reason to believe” in this context?” Just curious… [Rod Stewart referent?]
I was attempting to put it in the context of the topic… or see if it wasn’t.
Tia made it clear that it was ‘general’, and I fully accept that… think she’d agree, “no harm, no foul”… done.
[think the legal term is ‘asked and answered’… code for ‘let’s move on’…]
I think he’s barking up the wrong tree in blaming Dave Rosenberg. We also don’t know the details of exactly what happened that night, such as how the fight started, how many people were involved, the exact actions of each defendant, who was involved in the fight but not arrested and why, what were their exact actions, etc. There was no trial. There was a settlement. The person who wielded the knife admitted guilt and was sentenced. The rest were let go. Does the DA want to prosecute only the people on one side of the bar fight? Why not everyone who participated? Rosenberg had it right when he said that he wished that these guys had stayed in Vacaville and not come to Davis at all. I also wish that people wouldn’t get blotto and get involved in fights in downtown Davis.
One of the stages of “grief” as I remember… “anger phase”? When one is deeply angry, they often lash out in ways that may not be logical…
Mostly good points, Sharla… might be wrong tree, but my dog often does that when she senses a squirrel in the yard… can’t imagine the feelings the victim’s father has…
And,since we don’t “know”, who are we to “judge”? Yet, in this case, sure appears that ‘justice’ was taking a day off…
I can only imagine the suffering that the father and the family are going through. I am so sorry for their loss.
It is interesting that after years of complaining about people of color who are just in a “club” (that deals drugs, and stabs people) getting charged for bring in a “gang” (believing the Mom who says her son is a nice boy that would never join a “gang”) he asks “why wouldn’t the DA’s office at least get the five co-defendants on gang charges” (I would have expected David to be happy with the charges in this case)…
Actually you misunderstand my point. It’s not to complain that the DA didn’t plead it to gang charges. Rather it is to be confused as to why they simply dropped the charges rather than doing so.
Ken, you hit the nail on the head. I was wondering the same thing. IMO it’s just another opportunity for the Vanguard to take a shot at the DA.
I’m not criticizing the DA for dismissing the charges, I’m defending Judge Rosenberg who was unreasonably criticized for basically taking a pro-forma action.
Wish there was a way to put the folk whose charges were basically dismissed, could be on a list where future misbehavior would keep in mind they were originally charged… there isn’t, and I accept that. They were not convicted of anything…
Still, am thinking 1 or 2 of them will be up on other charges in the next 2-3 years… unless they got “scared straight”… hope I’m wrong on the likelihood….