Investigation shows racial disparity in life sentences doled out by San Diego courts

Good Morning, I’m Debbie Cruz….it’s Thursday, March 27.

A new investigation shows sentencing disparities based on race.
More on that next. But first... the headlines….

NEXT WEDNESDAY, PRESIDENT TRUMP HAS PROMISED TO RAISE TARIFFS ON A BROAD RANGE OF PRODUCTS BY 25-PERCENT. HE’S CALLING IT LIBERATION DAY. BUT YESTERDAY (WEDNESDAY) A GROUP OF CIVIC AND BUSINESS LEADERS SAID IF THE PRESIDENT FOLLOWS THROUGH, IT WILL BE A DISASTER FOR SAN DIEGO BUSINESSES AND THE PEOPLE WHO WORK HERE. THE GATHERING WAS ORGANIZED BY DISTRICT 7 COUNCILMEMBER RAUL CAMPILLO.

“There’s nothing liberating about raising the cost of fruit and vegetables, and beef from Mexico, or gasoline and heating from Canada, or housing and construction materials, or clothing or appliances.”

A BI-NATIONAL DELEGATION LED BY THE SAN DIEGO REGIONAL CHAMBER OF COMMERCE WILL TRAVEL TO WASHINGTON NEXT WEEK TO PRESS THEIR CASE WITH THE ADMINISTRATION.

Thanks to a legal settlement, a planned housing development in a fire-prone part of South County can move forward.

Otay Ranch Village 13 was approved by the County in 2020, but was challenged in court by environmental groups and the state.

The terms of the settlement allow more than twenty-seven hundred housing units, but with stipulations.

Developers must take measures to reduce fire risk and greenhouse gas emissions.

Attorney General Rob Bonta says the settlement shows it’s possible to build sustainable housing, reduce wildfire risk and protect the environment.

It’s Opening Day for the San Diego Padres as the team starts a four-game series against the Atlanta Braves.

Most of the Padres’ stars are back including Manny Machado and Fernando Tatis Junior. The team is looking to bounce back after losing in last year’s playoffs to the eventual World Series champion Dodgers.

First pitch is just after 1 pm.

From KPBS, you’re listening to San Diego News Now.

Stay with me for more of the local news you need.

AN INVESTIGATION HAS REVEALED STARK DIFFERENCES IN HOW WHITE AND BLACK PEOPLE WERE SENTENCED IN ROBBERY MURDERS UNDER A FORMER SAN DIEGO DISTRICT ATTORNEY.

REPORTER KATIE HYSON SAYS NEARLY ALL THE BLACK DEFENDANTS ARE SERVING LIFE WITHOUT PAROLE.

When Laila Aziz moved back to San Diego, she wondered where the people she grew up with went. So it became super personal. She discovered a few were convicted of murder during a robbery, something called “felony murder special circumstances.” Even if they didn’t commit the murder, if they were part of the robbery? It was life without parole. A sentence to die in prison. How do you get a death sentence if you didn't kill anyone?  California laws recently changed. People can now appeal for resentencing if they weren’t the actual killer. Or if they can prove racial bias in their case. So Aziz filed a public records request. For all robbery murder cases with defendants between 18 and 25 years old at the time of the crime. She chose that because before 25 the decision-making part of the brain hasn’t fully developed. All under Paul Pfingst – San Diego’s District Attorney from 1995 to 2003. Similar cases. Apples to apples. She found many white defendants who could have been charged with special circumstances never were. Or were given plea deals for lesser charges. Some cases were missing. And that's when we realized, you're not going to get the data just from the DA . . . We're going to have to dig. By “we,” she means the nonprofit she runs, Pillars of the Community. They analyzed mass amounts of data. Filed more records requests. Visited courts. Combed through archives. KPBS did the same. A clear pattern emerged. 13 out of 15 white defendants in robbery murder cases – killers and nonkillers – were given the chance at parole. Including one convicted of brutally murdering a Latino man, saying it earned him entry into a white supremacist gang. 11 out of 12  Black defendants – killers and nonkillers – were given life without parole. When you're looking at people – not even numbers anymore, I know all of their names by heart . . . and you see them treated differently by the same exact system, you're like, Separate but equal. Plessy versus Ferguson, Jim Crow. It all feels the same. The data show it wasn’t one problem judge, one over-eager attorney, or even prior convictions. It was a racial pattern. Pillars decided to hold what they call a People’s Tribunal. To charge this district attorney the way they charge us, to subpoena the district attorney the way they subpoena us. On a February night, they put the current District Attorney on mock trial. It was standing room only. Enlarged mugshots bordered the room. Every single person has the same exact crime . . . Look around the room.  Aziz pointed to a Black man’s mugshot. That's a non-killer. Death or parole? Death. Then to a white man’s mugshot. Guy next to him, non-killer. Death or parole? . . . Seven years. Didn’t even have to do that. A lone representative from the DA addressed the room. Frank Jackson. How did this happen? The answer to your question is, I don't know that answer, so I'm not going to make it up . . . I think most of these look like the 1998s and 2000s. A District Attorney spokesperson told KPBS the current office takes equal justice seriously. Quote, “To suggest otherwise is reckless.” They would not respond to any of KPBS’s questions.  Aziz won’t let them off the hook. Because the District Attorney has the power now to resentence these cases from life without parole to life with parole. But she has chosen not to do it. So you can't fight to uphold Paul Pfingst’s legacy of foundational racism and then say it was before your time.Pfingst did not respond to KPBS. At the People’s Tribunal, they called witnesses. Including Linda Whitley. Her son’s mugshot was behind her. She held up what she sees as proof he’s changed. College degrees he earned in prison. Books he wrote. His court process was hard for her. It was terrible because I didn't understand a lot of stuff they was saying. Whitley was never taught to read. She doesn’t fully understand the word “parole.” She just knows some people get to come home. And her son can’t. I know he can show the world now. He could be a better person now. You have a prepaid call from * Marquell Smith * *beep* Tomorrow, we’ll hear his story. How it represents thousands of others. And what could be done to bring him home.Katie Hyson, KPBS News

THE TRUMP ADMINISTRATION WILL SOON REQUIRE SOME PEOPLE LIVING ALONG THE SOUTHERN BORDER TO PROVIDE PERSONAL INFORMATION WHEN THEY WIRE CASH TO ANOTHER COUNTRY. THE NEW REGULATION TARGETS MONEY LAUNDERING BY MEXICAN DRUG CARTELS. BUT REPORTER GUSTAVO SOLIS SAYS PRIVACY EXPERTS HAVE SERIOUS CONCERNS.

The administration is lowering the threshold required to flag suspicious cash transfers from 10,000 DOLLARS down to just 200 DOLLARS. The new regulation is drawing criticism from across the political spectrum. Here is Aaron Klein – a senior fellow at the liberal-leaning Brookings Institution. “It is the opposite of what Trump has promised to do with deregulation, and it raises a whole host of civil liberties questions.” The new threshold only applies to money service businesses like Western Union or Money Gram – not big  banks. In a statement the Treasury Department says QUOTE Combatting drug cartels and stopping the flow of deadly drugs into the United States is one of the Administrations’ highest priorities. But Nicholas Anthony of the Libertarian-leaning CATO Institute calls the regulation a form of financial surveillance. “They want to know your name, your address, your social security number and also the information for the other party.  Experts also worry that money service businesses may increase prices because of the added costs of the new regulations. Gustavo Solis, KPBS News

SAN DIEGO VOTER OPINION ON PRESIDENT TRUMP’S FIRST TWO MONTHS DEPEND ON HOW THEY VOTED. HERE’S THE SECOND PART OF PUBLIC MATTERS REPORTER AMITA SHARMA’S CONVERSATION WITH INDEPENDENT MERI JO PETRIVELLI (MARY JOE PEH-TRUH-VELL-EE) AND REPUBLICAN LILIANA ARMENTA (LILY-ANN-UH ARE-MENT-UH)

Mary Jo, these cuts were targeted with the help of Elon Musk, who heads the Department of Government Efficiency. Musk has access to our financial data. How does this make you feel? It gives me great consternation. I have a knot in my stomach over the idea of him and whoever is working with him having access to so much private information. He is a businessperson. He comes in and buys businesses and then does whatever he does with them. The government is not a business, and it should not be run like a business. The point of government is not to make money. The point of business is to make money for its owners, its stock, its investors. Government is supposed to do other things. Liliana, how do you feel about Elon Musk having access to our private data? I don't mind because every time we sign up for a service or do anything, pretty much our information is out there—whether with financial institutions, medical records, or any applications on our phones. Information gets hacked a lot. So him having our information isn’t any different than anyone else having it. Mary Jo, are the Democrats doing a good job of countering President Trump? Oh, that's a tough one because, first, I am not a registered Democrat, so none of them are going to come after me to support them. But I think there could be a better way for them to respond. I think the House has a better voice. They seem to be more unified. Certain people are speaking out and trying to bring awareness to the ways things are being done and how they affect people. There are a lot of shenanigans in both parties. One of the reasons I am no longer a Democrat is because their methods often serve themselves rather than the people they supposedly represent. Liliana, the Trump administration has defied a court order on the deportations of alleged Venezuelan gang members. As a Republican, is there a line that you do not want to see this administration cross? I don’t even believe he defied the order. He said the plane was already over the airspace, so he was looking out for our safety. I would rather have them gone, returned to their country, and feel a little safer walking in our streets. Mary Jo, is there anything President Trump has done so far that you're happy with? You know, I don't know what to even say about that. I'm trying to think if there's anything domestically that he has done that I can say, “Yeah, good job.” Truthfully, nothing is coming to mind. I wish I could say, “Oh, yeah, he's doing this right,” or “He's doing this well, I support this.” I haven't gotten there yet. Liliana, where do you think the country is headed right now? I want to say I’m very pleased with the way President Trump has been handling things. I feel that sometimes the media and maybe the Democrats don’t focus on or mention why President Trump does things. I really believe that he keeps to America First.

THAT WAS LILIANA ARMENTA (LILY-ANN-UH ARE-MENT-UH) AND MERI JO PETRIVELLI (MARY JOE PEH-TRUH-VELL-EE) SPEAKING WITH AMITA SHARMA.

THE SAN DIEGO UNIFIED SCHOOL DISTRICT IS MOVING FORWARD WITH PLANS TO CONVERT SOME OF ITS PROPERTY INTO AFFORDABLE HOUSING. EDUCATION REPORTER KATIE ANASTAS SAYS THE GOAL IS TO OFFER EMPLOYEES AND THEIR FAMILIES A WAY TO LIVE WHERE THEY TEACH.

More than 50 employees and their families have already moved into Livia, a housing development built on district property in Scripps Ranch. We have an educator, at Rosa Parks Elementary, who's now living in housing built on district property, the Livia Development, who was commuting from Tijuana for ten years… Kyle Weinberg is president of the San Diego Education Association. Now she's paying half of market rate to live in a three bedroom apartment. The district’s goal is to provide affordable housing for 10% of its staff by 2035. On Tuesday, the school board voted to seek proposals from developers for five other sites, including the location of its central office. Neighborhood residents like Zach Thompson asked the board to build as many units as possible there. We need to worry not only about the supply for our teachers and staff, but the community as a whole. And we're talking about some of the best public land we have in the community. The district will hold meetings at each location to gather community input in the coming months. Katie Anastas, KPBS News.

THREE MONTHS AFTER STARTING HIS TERM … POWAY CITY COUNCILMEMBER TONY BLAIN IS FACING A RECALL EFFORT.

BLAIN IS ACCUSED OF VOTE TRADING AND THREATENING AND HARASSING CITY STAFFERS AND OTHER OFFICIALS.

LAST MONTH THE COUNCIL CENSURED HIM. IT’S THE FIRST CENSURE IN POWAY’S 45-YEAR HISTORY.

FORMER COUNCILMEMBER ANITA EDMONDSON IS ONE OF THE PEOPLE BEHIND THE RECALL EFFORT.

“That's alarming. Disturbing. This is not what the district voters were expecting. It's not what they deserve. It's an embarrassment. It's making a mockery of our local government.”

BLAINE WAS SERVED THE NOTICE OF INTENT FOR A RECALL AT THE MARCH 18TH MEETING.

THE REGISTRAR OF VOTERS ACCEPTED THE PETITION ON TUESDAY … TRIGGERING A SEVEN-DAY PERIOD FOR BLAIN TO RESPOND.

That’s it for the podcast today. As always you can find more San Diego news online at KPBS dot org. For your next listen, check out the Midday Edition podcast this afternoon for their weekly arts and culture show I’m Debbie Cruz. Thanks for listening and have a great day.