DA Hestrin talks about newly passed propositions

UPDATE: 6:35 p.m.

Riverside County District Attorney Mike Hestrin said the 2016 election left him with mixed feelings.

An election that brought in new leaders, and 12 out of 17 propositions passed in California.

“I think law enforcement sees it kind of as a mixed bag,” Hestrin said.

One of those laws, Proposition 57, includes allowing more parole opportunities to felons who committed non-violent crimes.

While initially opposing the law, Hestrin said he’s hopeful about the bill, if state leaders have a system put in place.

“If somebody is truly rehabilitated, then perhaps they should truly be let out,” Hestrin said. “But for those people that don’t qualify as violent under this crime but are violent individuals, for example people who’ve committed assaults and rapes, I really hope somebody thinks twice about simply letting someone out of prison that’s committed such a serious crime, simply because they’ve taken some classes in prison.

Another law, Proposition 66, is one Hestrin backed.

Known as the Death Penalty Reform and Savings Initiative, he said it intends to speed up the process in death penalty cases, avoiding holdups for those on death row.

“These are folks who, for obvious reasons, need legal help,” Hestrin said. “The state needs to provide a lawyer right away. So, there’s 6 or 7 years that we can cutoff of these lengthy delays right off the bat.”

Since 1978, 13 executions have taken place in California, with the most recent one being in 2006.

But with Proposition 66 in place, Hestrin said he hopes the law will bring together both sides of the death penalty, as those continue serving justice.

“Those who oppose the death penalty have made it their business to delay, and delay and delay this process to the point where where 25, 30 years, and those same people are saying, ‘Look how broken it is. What’s the point?’ Well, that’s what 66 was designed to do,” Hestrin said. “What we’re saying is we think we can take some common-sense reforms, and streamline the process.”

According to the Death Penalty Information Center, as of July 2016, 741 inmates are currently on California’s death row, the most out of any state in the union.

That number equals up to about a quarter of the death row population throughout the U.S., which is 2,905 inmates.

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ORIGINAL STORY: 4:09 p.m.

The 2016 election brought a mix of not only new and returning state and national leaders, but also new laws in the Golden State. News Channel 3’s Zak Dahlheimer spoke to Riverside County District Attorney Mike Hestrin Wednesday afternoon about two propositions that passed in this year’s election.

The election saw 17 propositions up for vote in California, and of those, 12 of them passed.

One of those, Proposition 57, would raise parole opportunities for felons convicted of non-violent crimes in California. Another, Prop 66, supports changing procedures governing state court appeals and petitions that challenge death penalty procedures and sentences.

Hear District Attorney Mike Hestrin’s thoughts about the propositions in an exclusive interview airing on KESQ News Channel 3 at 6 p.m. and on CBS Local 2 at 6:30 p.m.