Under the Weather

A short note to T&T readers.

On Monday, December 3rd, along with my friend Matthew McGough, I attended the swearing in ceremony of Jackie Lacey, Los Angeles County's first female and first black District Attorney.  It was a very nice ceremony held at USC's Galen Center.  USC is where Lacey graduated from law school.

By chance, Matthew and I saw DDA Shannon Presby who asked to sit with us. Before I had time to write up my notes on the ceremony, I started to feel under the weather.  It's now Friday, and I'm in full flu mode with muscle aches, clogged sinuses, a scratchy, inflamed throat, a fluctuating temperature and clogged lungs.  The sofa is where I've been spending most of this week, trying to rest.

The last time I had the flu, it developed into a form of viral-induced asthma, which left me with a horrible cough that lasted for over four months. I've never been diagnosed with asthma, but I believe with the way things are going, I am susceptible to developing the lingering deep cough again.

Unfortunately, this means I missed the Lonnie Franklin, Jr., pretrial hearing this morning, and I might also miss the next Kelly Soo Park hearing on December 11th.

I hope T&T's loyal readers will be patient with me.  I'll do my best to get well as soon as possible so I can get back down at the courthouse and report on the cases you're interested in.

Sprocket.

LA County District Attorney Race: Debate Tonight

 Chief Deputy District Attorney Jackie Lacey; 

Deputy District Attorney Alan Jackson

Photo credits: Lacey- Mae Ryan, KPCC; votealanjackson.com

There will be a debate tonight in the race for LA County District Attorney.

Date: Today, August 7th, 2012
Where: Deaton Civic Auditorium
Address: 100 West 1st Street, Los Angeles, CA
When: 7:00 PM to 8:30 PM

I'll be attending the debate and will write a review within the next few days.

UPDATE 10:10 PM
Full disclosure here.  I support DDA Alan Jackson for the District Attorney position.  I am not being paid by him or his campaign to blog about the race.  I have a personal connection to Jackson, whom I consider a friend.  Jackson was instrumental in getting Judge Fidler to apologize to me on the record in the first Phil Spector trial.

It was an interesting debate.  The candidates were asked about many of the same issues they talked about in previous debates, so I heard a lot of the same positions on issues.

There was one point in the debate where the gloves came off and the candidates started swinging at each other.

The moderator asked about the federal lawsuit that the Association of Deputy District Attorneys (ADDA) that named Jackie Lacey, was brought up and discussed.  Jackie Lacey's interpretation of her "corrected" testimony was quite interesting.  Jackson told the crowd that what they need is a top prosecutor that when it comes to raising your hand and swearing an oath, you want (that person) to tell the truth.  Jackson also stated he would wipe the slate clean when it comes to the DA's office working with the ADDA.  He's not someone who believes in "union busting" which he told the crowd, "is illegal."

Right after that, Lacey questioned how Alan Jackson represented himself on the primary ballot as a "Gang Prosecutor."  Lacey accused Jackson of misleading the public with that description; that he really was the Deputy Head of Major Crimes; he wasn't a gang prosecutor.

This issue went back and forth for a bit.

.Jackson replied that Lacey could have challenged how he appeared on the ballot, but she didn't.  He brought up the fact that the last trial he tried was a murder-for-hire case (James Fayed) where a man hired three gang members to kill his wife.  That was a "gang trial."

Jackson also said something to the effect to Lacey, 'So, now I'm the administrator, and you're the prosecutor in the field?'

Both candidates have strengths and weaknesses, and at various times came across strong in their presentations.  It's going to be an interesting race.

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