Riverside County DA says prosecutors weighing court fight over Newsom’s death row commutations

RIVERSIDE, Calif. (KESQ) Riverside County’s top prosecutor says district attorneys across California are weighing a court challenge to Gov. Gavin Newsom’s decision to commute every death sentence in the state, a legal fight they hope will ultimately reach the Supreme Court.

District Attorney Mike Hestrin told News Channel 3 on Friday that he is “in consultation with some of my colleagues around the state” and that, through the California District Attorneys Association, “we are looking at options right now for filing a case to get this in front of the various courts and hopefully eventually up to the Supreme Court.”

Newsom announced Thursday that he is commuting all 548 death sentences in California to life in prison without the possibility of parole. The Death Penalty Information Center called it the largest act of mass clemency in U.S. history.

Hestrin said he was “disappointed but not surprised” by the decision, which he called a “misuse of that power.” He said the governor acted “en masse” — “548 commutations with no individualized look” at each case.

“He’s not a king,” Hestrin said.

The courts are already guaranteed a role. Under the California Constitution, a governor cannot commute the sentence of anyone twice convicted of a felony without a recommendation from the state Supreme Court.

As of Oct. 2, Riverside County accounted for 88 of California’s condemned sentences, about 15% of the statewide total and second only to Los Angeles County, with 163, according to the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation. Los Angeles County has nearly four times Riverside County’s population.

Hestrin, who said he personally prosecuted seven death penalty cases, said victims’ families he has heard from describe the commutations as “a slap in the face.” He called the governor’s action “cowardice” and noted California voters rejected ballot measures to repeal the death penalty in 2012 and 2016.

Newsom, in an open letter released Thursday, wrote that he took the action “because I firmly believe that state-sanctioned killing is incompatible with California’s values.” He acknowledged the decision was among the most difficult of his career and said it would resurface painful memories for victims’ families.

“As Governor, I alone bear responsibility for this decision and its impact,” Newsom wrote.

Newsom imposed a moratorium on executions by executive order in 2019, shortly after taking office. California has not carried out an execution since 2006.

Hestrin is not alone among prosecutors in promising a fight. Kern County District Attorney Cynthia Zimmer said in a statement that “this assault on justice will be challenged,” GV Wire reported. The California District Attorneys Association said the governor’s action “replaces hundreds of individual sentencing decisions, each reached after extensive legal proceedings,” and its CEO, Greg Totten, said Newsom “has turned an extraordinary constitutional safeguard into a sweeping instrument of personal policy.”

Hestrin said no decision has been made on when or where a case might be filed. “There will be challenges,” he said.