Los Angeles County prosecutors should pace up the submitting of felony fees towards individuals accused of intercourse crimes or violence towards members of the family, in line with a brand new coverage announcement Thursday.
The announcement follows a latest Los Angeles Occasions report highlighting how a backlog of felony circumstances within the district legal professional’s workplace could have performed a job within the sexual assault and slaying of a 13-year-old boy.
Chief Deputy Dist. Atty. Steve Katz mentioned Thursday that when a call has been made to hunt an arrest warrant in such circumstances, the method to file a felony grievance should start inside one enterprise day, in line with a replica of an officewide memo reviewed by The Occasions.
“The urgency with which a case must be processed and filed is especially nice when the underlying conduct entails household violence or a sexual assault, together with issues wherein the accused shouldn’t be in custody,” Katz wrote.
A spokesperson for Dist. Atty. Nathan Hochman mentioned Thursday that there was a push “to streamline case processing at each stage — from submitting deputies to help workers — to make sure expeditious justice with out sacrificing the requirements wanted to file a case.”
“This common sense strategy is in keeping with the District Lawyer’s willpower to scale back the variety of circumstances that piled up underneath the earlier administration regardless of the staffing challenges the workplace at present faces,” the assertion from the district legal professional’s workplace mentioned. “With this new coverage, District Lawyer Hochman is guaranteeing that intercourse crimes and crimes involving home violence are given the best consideration, reflecting a collaborative effort to bolster public belief within the felony justice system.”
The coverage announcement comes roughly 24 hours after The Occasions printed a report confirming {that a} backlog of 1000’s of pending circumstances within the district legal professional’s workplace performed a job in delaying fees towards Mario Edgardo Garcia-Aquino, 43, a once-revered North Hollywood youth soccer coach who now stands accused of homicide within the loss of life of one in every of his gamers, 13-year-old Oscar Omar Hernandez.
A 16-year-old boy had accused Garcia-Aquino of sexual misconduct in February 2024, and the L.A. County Sheriff’s Division introduced a case to prosecutors for submitting in Might. However fees weren’t filed for greater than 10 months because of a backlog of almost 10,000 circumstances, in line with a number of legislation enforcement sources and an e mail reviewed by The Occasions.
The district legal professional’s workplace confirmed the backlog was a think about delaying fees towards Garcia-Aquino this week. However in a press release, the workplace mentioned it had additionally recommended the case could have been slowed by requests for “extra forensic testing of proof.”
Nevertheless, a Sheriff’s Division spokeswoman mentioned detectives on the case had been by no means “requested for extra data or testing on the case by the D.A.’s workplace.”
“The toxicology report was submitted with [the investigator’s] accomplished report in Might 2024,” spokeswoman Nicole Nishida mentioned.
The boy, whom family and friends known as Omar, was final seen boarding a Metrolink practice to Palmdale, the place he was supposed to assist Garcia-Aquino make soccer jerseys. The coach is accused of killing him throughout a lewd act on March 28, and the seventh-grader’s physique was present in Ventura County in early April.
Prosecutors filed fees towards Garcia-Aquino within the older case on April 2 — 4 days after Omar was killed.
Issues a few rising backlog of felony circumstances reached a fever pitch through the tenure of then-Dist. Atty. George Gascón. In July 2023, public data confirmed that about 10,000 felony circumstances introduced by legislation enforcement in 2021 and 2022 had been nonetheless awaiting a submitting choice. Amongst these had been defendants accused of homicide, home violence and weapons offenses.
Hochman and the president of the union that represents rank-and-file prosecutors mentioned the backlog was brought on by a call by Gascón to centralize filings electronically, in addition to a staffing disaster inside the district legal professional’s workplace. There are about 750 deputy district attorneys left in Hochman’s ranks, the smallest roster the workplace has seen in many years, in line with Ryan Erlich, the union president. That determine doesn’t embrace about 50 management-level prosecutors, who not often deal with trials or submitting choices.
Gascón has not responded to requests for remark. A spokesman for the district legal professional’s workplace didn’t instantly reply to an inquiry concerning the coverage shift Thursday.
Hochman repeatedly attacked Gascón concerning the situations that led to the backlog on the marketing campaign path final 12 months, and mentioned he has stepped up efforts to clear the queue in latest weeks.
Garcia-Aquino is charged with homicide and several other counts of sexual abuse towards two different gamers stemming from allegations courting to 2022. Authorities have warned there could also be extra victims. The coach didn’t enter a plea throughout a short look in a downtown courtroom this week.
Representatives of the sufferer’s household have expressed outrage that Garcia-Aquino wasn’t arrested sooner.
“I’m surprised it took so lengthy to file these fees. They may have saved this boy’s life,” Michael Carrillo, an legal professional for Omar’s household, mentioned this week. “Someone must be held accountable right here for holding this man on the streets and it led to this boy’s killing. … Somebody wants to come back to the household and clarify how this may very well be allowed to occur.”
