Comments@THE GUSS REPORT-In Granada Hills at around 5:30 a.m. one day last week, he would have been held at gunpoint by the LAPD, forcefully handcuffed while lying face down with a cop’s knee pressing on his spine, thrown in the back of a patrol car, booked with a mug shot and held in custody until the bail hearing, which most likely would include an Assault with a Deadly Weapon charge, ADW.
But David Lacey is married to Los Angeles County District Attorney Jackie Lacey. Because of that, what happens on the other side of LA County in Norwalk will likely determine whether Mr. Lacey skates with the kind of treatment that only the politically connected, and some celebrities, get – treatment that eludes the rest of us, especially people of color.
That’s because Norwalk is where hundreds of thousands of still-uncounted ballots sit that include Jackie Lacey’s name in her race to keep her job against challengers George Gascón and Rachel Rossi. As of this weekend, Mrs. Lacey has precisely 50.0% of the votes, but not yet enough to stop a runoff against Gascón, who currently is comfortably in second place.
What Mr. Lacey did doesn’t need a description because it was videotaped. But it does require an introduction.
In those early morning hours the day before Super Tuesday, local members of Black Lives Matter, led by Melina Abdullah, co-founder of its LA chapter, and Chair of the Department of Pan-African Studies at California State University, Los Angeles, protested outside of the Laceys’ residence because they were angered at Mrs. Lacey’s ongoing failure to live up to her promise to meet with them over the treatment of black people by law enforcement and the court system.
Sure, the timing of the BLM protest may have been deliberate and obnoxious -- but apparently not illegal given the lack of no trespassing signs -- when some of them knocked on the Laceys’ door or rang their bell at that early hour.
But that’s why we have 911. And not a soul in Los Angeles should know that better than District Attorney Jackie Lacey.
That said, this was when Mr. Lacey opened his front door and did this.
That sure looks like Assault with a Deadly Weapon, as defined in the California Penal Code, which Mrs. Lacey should also know backward and forward, as follows:
To be clear, an injury or death doesn’t have to occur for the crime of ADW to be proven; it also means conduct which places another person in fear of imminent injury or death.
But until the rest of those votes are tallied, nothing is likely to happen in the case. If Jackie Lacey gets more than her current 50.0% of the votes, thus avoiding a runoff against Mr. Gascón, the matter will disappear into thin air.
You can bank on it, though not a soul in the LA media – other than this column – will say so.
But if Jackie Lacey stays below the winning margin of 50.0% plus one vote, the scrambling that is already taking place behind the scenes will accelerate in her District Attorney office, Mike Feuer’s LA City Attorney’s office, the LAPD, Xavier Becerra’s Attorney General’s office and across local governments, namely Mayor Eric Garcetti, the LA City Council and the LA County Board of Supervisors to soften the blow and protect prominent members of LA’s political caste, specifically Jackie and David Lacey.
As of a few days ago, the LAPD stood by its statement about the incident issued earlier in the week:
Early this morning Devonshire patrol officers responded to a, "Disturbance" radio call in a residential area located in the 17000 block of Mayerling Avenue. While on scene officers became aware of a possible Assault with a Deadly Weapon and have taken an appropriate report. RHD (Robbery Homicide Division) has taken over the investigation and is still ongoing pending further details and identities of those individuals involved.
On Friday, Becerra’s office told me:
“We have agreed to review any material regarding the incident that is presented to us by LAPD. To protect its integrity, we are unable to comment on a potential or ongoing investigation.”
Even the U.S. Attorney’s office, which may get involved due to Lacey’s close relationships with these other agencies, emailed to advise, “We have no comment,” though Department of Justice policy is that it never confirms or denies the existence investigations.
Late Friday, the LAPD said that if I want further information, I’d have to file a public records request.
Translation: the government is killing time until those votes are tallied at the LA County Registrar-Recorder’s office in Norwalk.
At a press conference a few hours after the gun incident, Mrs. Lacey issued a half-hearted apology on behalf of her husband, but the subtext was one of oh shit, we’re in trouble:
“His response was in fear, and now that he realizes what happened he wanted me to say to the protesters, the person that he showed the gun to, that he was sorry, that he’s profoundly sorry, that he meant no one any harm.”
“Showed the gun to,” Mrs. Lacey? Your husband didn’t “show” them the gun; he pointed it at the protestors and repeatedly threatened to murder them. In a court of law, any of the rest of us, especially African-American men and teenagers, would be told by the judge and overly aggressive prosecutors, that ignorance of the law is no excuse for breaking it, whether the issue is ADW or just a traffic citation.
As for Jackie Lacey’s claim that they were afraid of Ms. Abdullah and the Black Lives Matter protestors, I have these two questions: If you were afraid, why did Mr. Lacey UNLOCK the door? Wouldn’t someone who is afraid ensure that the doors and windows are locked, perhaps even barricaded, while waiting for the police to show up?
Unlocking the door, opening it up, pointing an apparently loaded gun and threatening to kill people isn’t the act of someone who is afraid. It’s the act of someone who feels above the law and doesn’t need to wait for the police to arrive to deal with people who were not breaking-in; they were just being pests by disturbing neighborhood tranquility and exercising their 1st Amendment rights.
The real crime here was Assault with a Deadly Weapon that threatened the safety and lives of everyone on that porch and around that neighborhood, and there is little argument to be made about it. It was recorded. But in LA’s political caste, video takes a backseat to uncounted votes.
And that’s a crime, too. Watch, you’ll see.
Details on the incident can be read here.
(Daniel Guss, MBA, is a member of the Los Angeles Press Club, and has contributed to CityWatchLA, KFI AM-640, iHeartMedia, 790-KABC, Huffington Post, Los Angeles Daily News, Los Angeles Magazine, Movieline Magazine, Emmy Magazine, Los Angeles Business Journal, Pasadena Star News, Los Angeles Downtown News, and the Los Angeles Times in its Sports, Opinion, Entertainment sections and Sunday Magazine, among other publishers. Follow him on Twitter @TheGussReport. His opinions are his own and do not necessarily reflect the views of CityWatch.) Prepped for CityWatch by Linda Abrams.
