LOS ANGELES – A special adviser to the Los Angeles district attorney, George Gascón, is being accused of acting behind the back of the victim’s prosecutor and family in a gang murder case to offer a secret plea agreement to the defendant in the case through its public defender, who serves on Gascón’s public policy committee.
The alleged offer occurs in the case of the People of the State of California x Rudy Dominguez.
Dominguez, a suspected gang member, was charged with murder in the alleged retaliatory shooting against Fernando Rojo, 26, in southern Los Angeles in 2016.
TUCKER CARLSON: THE SLOW AND PAINFUL DEATH OF CALIFORNIA
Prosecutors say Rojo was shot in a case of confusion of identity when the alleged gang members mistook him and a group of men with whom he was responsible for the shooting that killed one of his members.
A court transcript of a recent hearing on the case on December 15, obtained by FOX 11, appears to imply that Mario Trujillo, a special adviser to Gascón, was involved in the case and made an offer.
READ THE DOCUMENTS OBTAINED BY FOX 11
The transcript involves Dominguez’s public defender, Traci Blackburn, the district attorney handling the case, Jeffrey Herring, and the presiding judge, Mark S. Arnold.
San Francisco district attorney George Gascon speaks at a press conference at the San Francisco County Court on March 19, 2012. REUTERS / Beck Diefenbach
Mentioned in the transcript is Tiffany Townend Blacknell, who also works as a public defender with Blackburn, and represented Dominguez until Blackburn recently took over.
LA COUNTY MOTHER APPEALS TO GASCON AFTER SPECIAL FEES DECLARED AGAINST 3 CHILD MISCELLANEOUS ACCIDENTS
Blacknell also serves on Gascón’s public policy committee.
According to the transcript, Blackburn indicates that Gascón’s special advisor, Mario Trujillo, was the prosecutor of the case, rather than Herring saying “Herring is not the attorney for the record in this case, it was Mr. Trujillo. We discussed the provision. I thought that was what we were going to do today. “
Deputy DA Herring then replies: “It is new to me that I am not the attorney for the record in this case.”
Blackburn then says to the judge, “There is an offer that was passed on to me, which I passed on to Mr. Dominguez.”
“Who did the offer come from?” Judge Arnold asks. “Mr. Trujillo” Blackburn replies… to what the judge says “Trujillo? I don’t know who he is”.
Blackburn tells the judge that Trujillo was “at least in contact with Mrs. Blacknell before that date and transmitted an offer, which I transmitted to my client”.
LA COUNTY HEALTH EMPLOYEES: DO NOT PARTICIPATE IN CHURCH SERVICES IN-HOUSE, NO MATTER WHAT THE JUDGE SAYS
The judge asks “what was the offer?” Blackburn responds with “seven years”, adding that it is new to her if there is no offer.
“We were taken by surprise in the first place, we never heard of anything. As far as we knew, it was a preliminary hearing, they were trying to put it all together, so, suddenly, it’s like, oh, 7 years ago on the table, nor spoke to us, how is our loved one worth 7 years? “declared the victim’s sister-in-law, Amy Rojo.
Attorney Sam Dordulian, who is representing the Rojo family pro bono, was in court for a follow-up hearing on Monday aimed at clearing up the confusion. It was an audience that neither Trujillo, Blacknell, nor Blackburn attended after the transcript was leaked.
“This is the kind of unfair and unethical agreement that is completely inappropriate, and yet it was done in this case, or they tried to do it,” said Dordulian.
At the hearing, a supervisor from the DA’s hardcore gang unit clarified to the judge that any offer made by Trujillo is invalid because it never went through him or through the appropriate channels according to the DA’s office protocols.
“Mario Trujillo circumvented all of this, avoided all of this, never called the prosecutor who is actually processing the case. Did the judge this morning ask if Mario Trujillo called you? Talk to you about this case? And the prosecutor never said. ” When Judge Arnold was informed that the agreement is invalid … we were told that he said quote “It is a good thing … because there is no way I can look myself in the mirror with a seven year sentence agreement in this case. “
CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APPLICATION
FOX 11 contacted the Gascón team to ask about this alleged secret deal, but they declined to comment.
The judge in this case also refused to discard weapon accessories and special circumstances.