New legislation gives hope to man serving life without parole
Good Morning, I’m Debbie Cruz….it’s Friday, March 28th>>>>New legislation gives hope to a man serving life without parole
More on that next. But first... the headlines….
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City crews yesterday (Thursday) started removing debris from an abandoned homeless encampment just north of the Torrey Pines Gliderport.
Because steep terrain makes it difficult to access with heavy machinery, a San Diego Fire-Rescue helicopter is being used to carry around 5 tons of trash and debris from the cliffside overlooking Blacks Beach to nearby dumpsters.
According to the city, code officers and San Diego Police have visited the encampment several times and found it empty.
Operations at the Torrey Pines Gliderport won’t be impacted, but a portion of the northern parking lot has been closed since last week.
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Starting tomorrow (Saturday), registered voters living in the County’s 1st Supervisorial District can visit 7 vote centers to cast or drop off their ballots in person.
The election is to replace former supervisor Nora Vargas.
Another 6 vote centers will open on Election Day, April 8th.
To learn more about the candidates and find information on how to vote, go to the KPBS Voter Hub at KPBS dot org slash voter hub.
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The San Diego Padres bested the Atlanta Braves in their home opener yesterday (Thursday).
They won 7 to 4.
And the fans were there to cheer them on - the Padres had their largest opening day crowd in Petco Park history with over 45 thousand people in attendance..
The Padres will face the Braves in three more games, wrapping up the series Monday night.
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From KPBS, you’re listening to San Diego News Now.Stay with me for more of the local news you need.
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Yesterday (Thursday), we brought you part 1 of an investigation showing stark racial disparities in how robbery murders were sentenced under former San Diego District Attorney Paul Pfingst (Fingst).
Nearly all white defendants were given the possibility of parole.
Nearly all Black defendants were not.
Today (Friday), reporter Katie Hyson tells the story of one of the men serving life without parole — and new legislation giving him hope.
You have a prepaid call from * Marquell Smith ,* an incarcerated individual at the California State Prison Los Angeles County.
Even though I have a life without the possibility, plus 206 years sentence, I know that the good Lord has a plan for me in the near future.
Marquell Smith didn’t always talk this way.
For years, I was just bumping my head in and out of the hole, catching shoes . . . being involved with violence . . . The way prison was back then . . . You wouldn't hear about nobody going home. If you had life, you had life . . . It's all about survival and doing what you do to maintain your status . . . But at the same time, that comes from your adverse childhood experiences.
Adverse childhood experiences are among many challenges Smith has lived, but only recently learned language for.
He says education and faith changed his thinking.
A priest used to visit him in solitary confinement.
He started attending the prison’s church services. And college classes.
Now I want to be an engine of putting a stop to the self-destruction that goes on in the same type of communities in which I come from.
He wrote two books, including one to steer youth away from crime.
He quit cursing and smoking weed. He mentors other incarcerated people.
He says he hasn’t been written up for bad behavior since 2016.
I want others to understand that there's a better way. And love is the key.
Despite these changes, Smith can’t go before the parole board to let them decide if he deserves it. His sentence doesn’t let him.
He was convicted of killing the 19-year-old clerk during a convenience store robbery.
He denies that.
Whether Marquell Smith is innocent or guilty doesn’t change the racial differences in the sentencing of cases like his.
And Smith thinks there was racial bias in his trial, too.
The judge was calling me and my co-defendant dudes, and when the detective was allowed to talk about ghetto gang hits in my case, and my case is not even a gang case. You know what I'm saying? Why are you talking about the ghetto? You know what I'm saying? In front of a jury. That had to be racist. You know what I mean? I knew that long ago, but I didn't know how to incorporate it into my arguments.
He has an appeal hearing in May.
If that’s denied, he might appeal again under California’s Racial Justice Act, or RJA.
It would allow for resentencing if he could prove racial bias in his case.
When the RJA was passed in 20-20, Colleen Chien got to work.
It was definitely a lot of pain to do it.
She co-directs the Berkeley Center for Law and Technology.
She wanted to provide evidence for the unequal treatment Black people have voiced for decades.
Lived experience has been there the whole time, but the ability to tell a more broad story based on data has been missing.
She built a database to compare racial outcomes in the California justice system.
She found a pattern she calls striking.
What you might hear is in general, we see that Black people are overrepresented in the criminal justice system. But when you actually go at the granular level and look specifically at, well, are they arrested more? Are they convicted more? At every county in every single charge, we saw that there was disparity.
It's really hard to explain that as existing without the presence of bias.
Chien says bias doesn’t mean the judge or attorney or arresting officers are explicitly racist.
But that unconscious attitudes add up at every step of the judicial process.
Marquell Smith wants to earn a law degree, and change that.
A new state bill introduced this month could give him the opportunity. SB 672.
It would allow all people convicted for crimes committed between the ages of 18 and 25 – when brains aren’t fully developed yet – to go before the parole board after 25 years.
I ask Smith if he were granted parole, what he would do first.
Wow. I want to spend some time with my mother . . . I was locked up, like I said, at 17. I got out at 21, came back at 22, and here it is, I'll be 50 this year. So I haven't had a chance to spend no time with my mother.
She wants the same.
I just want to see my baby come home.
This is what Smith wants people to know.
People do change, you know what I’m saying? If people see that people can change, you know what I’m saying, that should mean something.
The California legislature has six months to pass SB 672.
Katie Hyson, KPBS News
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The Trump administration is reportedly considering cuts to the CDC’s domestic HIV programs. Health reporter Heidi De Marco says advocates fear this could undermine years of progress.
Local performer Justin Renaissance knows the impact of HIV firsthand.
I still actively have friends who pass away from this.
The CDC currently provides about 91% of federal funding for HIV prevention. Now, the Trump administration is considering cutting these funds.
Cara Dessert runs the San Diego LGBT Community Center.
Prevention services are so much less expensive.
Health experts warn eliminating the CDC's HIV division could create a public health crisis reminiscent of the HIV pandemic in the 1980s.
The younger generation definitely needs proper education on this.
Adolescents and young adults make up 19% of new infections annually. Justin Renaissance says prevention is key.
And preventative care is 100% the way to go. We can’t get rid of that.
The administration hasn’t made a final decision, but advocates say the cuts would be a major setback.
Heidi de Marco, KPBS.
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The State Fire Marshal this week released new maps, showing an increase in areas designated as “very high" fire risk.
It’s the first update in 14 years.
As North County reporter Alexander Nguyen shows us … one North County city saw a significant increase.
According to the recently released Fire Hazard Severity Zone maps by the State Fire Marshall … Carlsbad saw a nearly 70 percent increase in very high risk acreage…
From a little more than 48 hundred acres to nearly 82 hundred acres.
“We’ve been expecting these for a long time.”
The last time the maps were updated was in 20-11. Carlsbad Fire Marshal Darcy Davidson says while it was a big increase … it was not a surprise.
“The Cal Fire Maps are based a scientific model that uses the latest data that includes vegetation, drought conditions and changes over time. So these maps are accurately reflect the condition that we have.”
She says the maps are helping the city identify high-hazard areas to focus resources on.
California State Fire Marshal Daniel Berlant says that’s the point of the maps … to help cities and counties better plan new communities.
Carlsbad was not the only area that saw an increase. Overall, San Diego County saw a 26 percent increase. AN/KPBS
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A toxic algal (al-gull) bloom has been spreading from central to southern California since February.
Reporter Melissa Mae updates us on how it's affecting San Diego’s marine animals.
Along the San Diego County coastline, SeaWorld San Diego’s Rescue Team has rescued 21 sea lions and 4 pelicans showing symptoms of domoic acid poisoning. Nine of the sea lions have died.
Jeni Smith is curator of the Rescue Program at SeaWorld San Diego. She says domoic acid is a naturally occurring neurotoxin produced by certain harmful algal blooms.
“The algae bloom is called Pseudo-nitzschia, fish eat the algae and then the sea lions eat the fish and it causes the sea lions to have seizures. It affects their brain. It affects their heart.”
SeaWorld confirmed they also received calls about 2 common dolphins: one went back into the ocean and the other died during transport.
If you see a marine animal that may have domoic acid poisoning, SeaWorld recommends staying at least 50 feet away and calling 1(800)541-7325. Providing the location, size of the animal, symptoms and behavior can be helpful. Melissa Mae KPBS News.
That’s it for the podcast today. This week’s podcast was produced by Andrew Dyer, Brenden Tuccinardi and Lara McCaffrey.i The podcast is edited by Brooke Ruth. As always you can find more San Diego news online at KPBS dot org. I’m Debbie Cruz. Thanks for listening and have a great long weekend. We’ll be back on Tuesday.
