D.A. will no longer seek death sentences
Santa Clara County District Attorney Jeff Rosen announced Wednesday that his office will no longer seek the death penalty, reversing course from previous statements in which he said he would pursue capital punishment in particularly heinous crimes.
Rosen made the announcement in a news conference broadcast on YouTube as part of a collection of reforms his office plans to enact. They include the elimination of cash bail, establishing an integrity team to investigate criminal police misconduct and requiring deputy district attorneys and the office’s investigators, who are currently required to take police ridealongs, to also visit communities.
But the biggest reform Wednesday was Rosen’s decision to no longer request the death penalty, which hasn’t been enforced in California since 2006. In March of last year, Gov. Gavin Newsom suspended capital punishment in the state, calling it discriminatory and immoral.
Rosen was elected in 2010 and has sought the death penalty in multiple cases, most notably in the trial of Antolin TorresGarcia, who was found guilty of murdering 15yearold Sierra LaMar in 2017. TorresGarcia was sentenced to life in prison for the killing of Sierra, who
disappeared on her way to school in Morgan Hill on March 16, 2012. She has never been found.
The district attorney enumerated most of his reforms Wednesday in front of several of his staff members — all wearing face masks and standing 6 feet apart due to the pandemic — before having them leave for the death penalty announcement, which he described as a deeply personal decision.
Rosen said the change in policy was inspired by trips to Montgomery, Ala., first with a faithbased group and then with his family. After visits to civil rights museums and historical sites, Rosen said, he learned not only about slavery, but also what he called “the abhorrent misuse of the death penalty” against people of color.
“In the past, I supported the death penalty when I viewed heinous murders through eyes of the victims and families of those whose lives were taken,” Rosen said. But in recent weeks, “I have tried to look at this issue through the lens of race and inequity.
“These cases use up massive public resources and cruelly drag on for years with endless appeals that give no finality to the victims’ families,” he said. “There’s the tragic but real risk of wrongful conviction. And, shamefully, our society’s most drastic and devastating law enforcement punishment has been used disproportionately against defendants of color.”
Santa Clara County will follow a path similar to San Francisco, where District Attorney Chesa Boudin has said he will refuse to seek the death penalty.
Rosen also noted the May 25 killing of George Floyd by Minneapolis police and the racial justice movement that has followed as reasons for his office’s reforms, including no longer seeking the death penalty.
“It has changed our country and our community,” he said. “It has changed my office. It has changed me.”