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00:00:01
Speaker 1: Speaking up in all caps. For those that don, the red caps.
00:00:09
Speaker 2: It's the John Phillips Show. And we continue at 2.05 in the afternoon on the John Phillips Show. Mr. Randy Wags in Culver City.
00:00:21
Speaker 3: Johnny, we're broadcasting live on the radio. 790k ABC in Southern California, 810k SFO in the Bay Area, and we're broadcasting live on video every single day. You can join us, watch the show live, react to it in the chat room at johnnydontlike.com. That's Johnny with a Y, johnnydontlike.com.
00:00:42
Speaker 2: Well, we told you that California Governor Gavin Newsom decided to change the sentences in Of every person on California's death row, there are 548 people who have been sentenced to die. He is changing their sentences to life in prison without the chance of getting out. In California, we know that doesn't actually mean what it says. Newsom said the government should not kill people. He believes the system can make mistakes and is not fair. California has not put anyone to death since 2008. 2006. In 2019 Newsom stopped all executions while he was governor. Some of these changes still need approval from the state's highest court. Newsom's choice is the biggest change of death sentences ever made by a U.S. governor. The people will stay in prison for the rest of their lives allegedly. Joining us to talk about this is the former district attorney of Los Angeles County District Attorney Steve Cooley. District Attorney Cooley, welcome.
00:01:52
Speaker 4: Thank you, John.
00:01:53
Speaker 2: I would imagine as a man who spent virtually his entire adult life putting criminals away, hearing this news had to be a punch to the gut.
00:02:05
Speaker 4: It was devastating, but given it came from Newsom, I was not totally pulled over. This is the kind of stunt he would pull, the kind of decision he would make, especially when given the timing. He avoided any discussion. He avoided having to contact the next of kin of the murdered victims. He just wanted to sort of do it under the radar if he could, the best he could. And that is very unfortunate because that's not the way real leaders should approach very important issues.
00:02:36
Speaker 2: When I look at this, I see Gavin Newsom appealing to a Democratic primary audience. in that he is getting ready to run for president. This has nothing to do with public safety in California. This has nothing to do with the crimes that were committed that resulted in these people being put on death row. It has nothing to do with him believing that these trials were unfair or unjust. This is all about trying to win votes in a Democratic primary.
00:03:07
Speaker 4: I think you're correct. He postures... that somehow or another this is a moral decision. Well, I'm not so sure he's more moral than the thousands of next of kin of the brutally murdered victims of the people who are on death row. I'm not so sure he's more moral than the millions of individuals in California who
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voted to uphold the death penalty. So him casting it as a moral choice, well, I'm not buying that. He goes on to suggest that this is, quote, incompatible with California's values. Well, who decided that? Did he just out of the blue air decide something's incompatible with California values? You know what? Following the laws, the way we do things in this country, not have a sort of a feeling about our incompatible values with what's going on. It's ridiculous.
00:04:13
Speaker 2: One of the things that Gavin Newsom likes to say all the time is that he's a champion of democracy. It's all about saving democracy. They say democracy is under threat right now from the Trump administration. Well, as you mentioned correctly, the people of California have reaffirmed their support for the death penalty over and over and over again. In fact, they've done it every time they've been given the opportunity to get rid of it. What he is doing with this decision is anti-democratic. He's looking at the results of our elections and saying, yeah, the people of California want the death penalty, but I know better, so I'm going to ignore the results of those elections, and I'm going to do what I'm going to do.
00:04:59
Speaker 4: Well, it's I know better, and it's also, does this give me some sort of advantage in my quest to become president and to become the Democrat nominee for president. I think that's what's at play here, but it's certainly not in the interest of justice. It just isn't. Justice was achieved when jurors rendered their verdicts and they were reviewed by the Supreme Court and then by federal courts and state courts through collateral attacks. What he's doing is the most unjust thing. Justice was served by others who participated in this process. What he is doing is undoing that justice.
00:05:49
Speaker 2: In your career, you've had many, many, many tough conversations with victims and their family members. I would imagine that when Gavin Newsom does something like this, the trauma, the re-traumatization to the victims of crime and their families has got to be off the charts.
00:06:11
Speaker 4: Oh, I imagine it is, but we'll never know because of the timing of Newsom's decision. I think it would be good for every prosecutor in the state of California, in the 58 counties, to identify those individuals who received a death penalty in their county to sit down and in 50 words or less, summarize the crime for which the person was convicted. The public would be astounded at how vicious, brutal the crimes were, and how vicious or brutal the criminals were that perpetrated them.
00:06:52
Speaker 2: It seems like if this were to have happened 15 years ago, if this were to have happened 20 years ago, 30 years ago, This would be the number one scandal in the state of California, and it would be unrecoverable for a governor to get beyond this. It cost Rose Byrd her job when she was on the California Supreme Court, when she started playing around with this. And now it seems like the politics in California has shifted so far to the left, especially on issues related to criminal justice, that he's able to get away with this, and this is not the five-alarm fire anymore. that it would have been in this state not that long ago?
00:07:33
Speaker 4: I think that's the correct assessment. However, that does not change whether it's right or wrong. What he did was wrong. He did it for his own benefit, and he should not in any way cast his decision as a moral decision on his part. If it was a moral decision, why didn't he make it when he was first elected governor? Why didn't he make it at the last of his first term as governor? Well, how about the beginning of a second term? It was so moral, Gavin. Why didn't you do it at a time after discussion with the public, after the next of kin of the victims can be interviewed, after other people can think about it and talk about it? No, he didn't want that kind of discussion. You talk about threat to democracy, put him at the top of the list.
00:08:22
Speaker 2: Could you speak to the point of what makes one eligible for even a death penalty, the death penalty to be on the table? Because I think there's certain assumptions of, oh, well, you know, if there's a drunk driver who killed someone they didn't intend on, I don't think that person should be executed. We're not talking about those people. We're talking about people who are truly sadistic, correct?
00:08:48
Speaker 4: You're talking about people who have committed a crime that has a first-degree murder, It has all the elements of a special circumstance. Then there's an evaluation by prosecutors evaluating the aggravating circumstances about the crime and the defendant and the mitigating circumstances about the crime and the defendant. Defense attorneys are invited to participate in that process. It then goes through a series of reviews, at least in the LA County DA's office, about five before the decision is made to pursue the death penalty. And then it's very selective. And then, of course, you have to go to a preliminary hearing. The judge has to make findings, standard of probable cause. It goes to a jury trial, subjected to judicial review there and a jury. And they have to make their decision based upon beyond a reasonable doubt and unanimously. Then it's reviewed by the Supreme Court and federal and state courts by way of habeas corpus attacks. So it gets thoroughly reviewed. It's a carefully made decision. It's a very specific decision made on the basis of were there special circumstances. For example, torturing a baby is a special circumstance. For example, murdering many, many women after you've raped them, that's a special circumstance. That was the case of the Grim Sleeper. That was the case handled when I was DA. Suspected, he murdered 25 women in the South Central area. We convicted him of 11 actual murders, rapes, and one attempted murder and rape. This is the kind of person that Gavin Newsom would
like to sort of say, well, you know, got to make sure. How do we know? Let's commute this thing. We'll all feel better off.
00:10:45
Speaker 2: No.
00:10:46
Speaker 4: You know what, he ought to spend some time thinking about all the babies that are killed via abortion in the state of California. He's worried about murder. That's a form of murder. He and Becerra ought to really examine their moral evaluation of that as it occurs in California.
00:11:04
Speaker 2: What's wild to me, and this isn't even just a Newsom problem, this goes far beyond Gavin Newsom, where there is this sick belief that the sympathy that you should have is for the perpetrator of the crime and not the victim of the crime. Because the perpetrator of the crime probably came from a disadvantaged background. They probably faced adversity in their life and they really didn't have any other choice than to do what they did, to choose a life of crime. And the victims need to check their privilege because they're the ones that have the ability to forgive. And if they could just get on board, then the proper sympathy could go to the person who committed the crime for all of the reasons I mentioned. That seems like a really, really, really screwed up way to see the world. But for whatever reason right now, there are a lot of people who buy into that.
00:11:59
Speaker 4: But it's not necessarily true. If you look at the circumstances involving each defendant, it's not necessarily true that Their crimes were because they were disadvantaged. There are millions of disadvantaged people who obey the law and are upstanding citizens. These are criminals, and they come in all stripes, colors, backgrounds, ethnicities. The only thing they have in common is they've committed first-degree murder with special circumstance, and they are such bad characters, they've been evaluated as appropriate for the death penalty. Which, by the way, in Los Angeles County, it's a very selective process. There's a relatively small percentage of cases with special circumstances where the DA's office decided to pursue the death penalty. I'm sure that's the same with Mr. Hockman. Forget about Gascon. He was just off the charts in everything he did. But it's a very careful decision. And these are bad people. And I wish every prosecutor would publish the facts and circumstances of those people on death row that they convicted in their counties. and there are juries convicted in their counties, and ended up on death row. Put the facts and circumstances of the crime out there and the circumstances and facts regarding the murderer.
00:13:22
Speaker 2: How pathetic was Javier Becerra's response to this, where he wouldn't condemn what Newsom did, he wouldn't criticize what Newsom did. He almost seemed relieved that it was taken care of and he didn't have to be the one to do it. as someone who had a background as the Attorney General of California, who theoretically was supposed to be looking out for public safety in California, for him to just stay silent as Newsom did this in the 11th hour?
00:13:52
Speaker 4: Well, he's never been known for his leadership qualities or his courage. He probably is very relieved that Newsom dealt with this. However, he's going to have to deal with the fact that the Supreme Court is going to review a large number of these commutations in those cases where the condemned person had been convicted of a prior felony. That requires Supreme Court review. So we'll see if Mr. Becerra comes out and shows any kind of leadership or courage when it comes to those cases that are still going to have to be dealt with in the Supreme Court.
00:14:36
Speaker 2: One of the things that Gavin Newsom did in addition to the commutations of death row inmates is he closed a number of prisons down while he was governor of California. Do you fear that Becerra will continue that trend and we'll have even less prison space than we had before?
00:14:53
Speaker 4: No, I don't think Becerra will do that because Gavin Newsom closed so many that there's none left that are reasonably that should be closed. No, Becerra will not reduce the number of prisons. It's already at an all-time low in terms of those people that should be going to prison. The sentences are much, much lower than they have historically worked before Gavin Newsom and Governor Brown. So I think that Becerra is not going to be confronted with that problem.
00:15:25
Speaker 2: Are you disappointed in the lack of condemnation from Gavin Newsom's decision, not only coming or the lack of condemnation from the Attorney General Rob Bonta, the incoming governor, Javier Becerra. But going down the food chain here in California, it seems like in a one-party state, which we are now, there is a hesitancy, even among Republicans, to really speak out when the governor gets out of line because they're the only game in town and they don't want to offend them.
00:15:59
Speaker 4: Well, they aren't the only game in town. that people should exercise the First Amendment rights and condemn them when they are wrong. I don't have any high expectations that Rob Bond is going to do the right thing. He was never a career law enforcement officer. And having had that experience, he was a politician from the state legislature who advances his political views at every opportunity. Becerra is the same way. He was a congressman for over 30 years. And do you realize that He was not even active with the state bar until one month before Brown appointed him attorney general. So he has no real experience, real life experience in that particular job. And that showed. They're both basically DEI appointments that have succeeded after their appointment.
00:16:53
Speaker 2: Former Los Angeles County District Attorney Steve Cooley. District Attorney Cooley, thanks so much for being here.
00:16:59
Speaker 4: Thank you, John.
00:17:01
Speaker 2: If you'd like to email the show, you can do so at johnnydontlikeshow at gmail.com. That's
johnnydontlikeshow at gmail.com. And if you want to watch us perform the show live, participate in the chat, click the like button, and subscribe to the show, Randy, that's all easy to do at johnnydontlike.com.
00:17:21
Speaker 3: Let's see how many likes we're at on today's show. We are at, for today's show, at johnnydontlike.com, 332 likes. And how about our subscriber count? We are now at 10,380 subscribers.
00:17:35
Speaker 1: We're growing every single day.
00:17:37
Speaker 3: At some point, we'll get to that sweet spot where we can actually start selling this, and then, well, it'll be good times. We're loving doing this every day on video. It's a completely different experience and we love the instant feedback that we get in the chat room. So join us. Tell us how you really feel at johnnydontlike.com.
00:17:56
Speaker 2: And Randy, that's also where you can find the Accountability Podcast.
00:18:00
Speaker 1: Accountability, accountability, accountability.
00:18:02
Speaker 3: Our weekly tribute to the most useless word in the English language. This is either the 19th or the 20th episode of the Accountability Podcast. There is tons of exclusive content right there on the channel that you did not get to hear on the radio. But we've got a brand new episode premiering today at 2.59 p.m., with John Thomas talking about the implications of a Governor Becerra era, and a Mayor Nithya Raman, as well as the national races as well. We get into all of that at 2.59 today, but on the other side of the news, we'll have a little preview for you of the conversation, so everyone on the radio gets a little taste of what they get on the Accountability Podcast.
00:18:41
Speaker 2: And not only did we get into those subjects, but we also talked about Long Beach Congressman Robert Garcia. who is now the incoming chairman of the House Oversight Committee, and he has made a number of statements saying that he is going to, he's petty, and he is willing to go as low as humanly possible to go after his political enemies. Now, he's in an interesting place because he used to be the congressman for Long Beach and Los Angeles County, but when Prop 50 was passed, his district got changed. And not only does he represent portions of Long Beach, but his district now goes into coastal Orange County. It now includes Huntington Beach and I believe portions of Newport Beach as well. And coming out the way he did on the subject of going after his political enemies may not fly as well in the new district as it did in the old district, but of course, time will tell. We get into that subject with John Thomas as well. If you want to watch us perform the show live, go to johnnydontlike.com, which is where the Accountability Podcast is going to debut as soon as we sign off the air.
00:20:00
Speaker 3: And make sure that if you watch it live, You leave comments, you hit those like buttons. The first hour of a show like that premiering really helps launch it into the stratosphere and YouTube. So we want as much engagement as possible and make sure you watch the whole thing. YouTube knows if you sign up after five minutes. So with that being said, it was a very interesting conversation with John Thomas. Let's give you a little preview. A little preview of what you'll be getting at 2.59. Here is a little sample of this week's accountability podcast with John Thomas.
00:20:37
Speaker 2: I was watching TV and I saw on one of the networks an interview about a crime subject. And one of the individuals who was interviewed was Sammy the Bull Gravano, who was the mob informant, the guy that turned on La Cosa Nostra. and had to have plastic surgery and go into hiding and move to Arizona, the whole thing. I saw more of a man in the witness protection program on my television than I did of Javier Becerra in this campaign.
00:21:08
Speaker 5: Yeah, isn't that the truth? And you even saw that, I think, in one of the first press avails that the governor did just a couple of days ago, our governor-elect, I guess, did just a couple of days ago when he was actually asked to take a position he, with a straight face, looked at the press corps and said, I got elected without taking any positions. You're not gonna get me to take one now.
00:21:28
Speaker 1: That's just- I'm not playing that game. I'm not playing that game, that's fair.
00:21:32
Speaker 5: Yeah, which is, it's really a, it's a truthful statement that he did get elected without taking any positions. He did get elected without making any meaningful public appearances. And that's sad for the people of California, right? especially because campaigns are oftentimes about getting candidates on record to say what they believe is right or wrong and what they will do. And then having the press and members of the media like yourselves to hold them to account and then look back on their scorecard at the end of their term, as if they're asking for four more years or two more years and say, did they do what they said they were going to do? But if you go through a campaign in which they never made an appearance and never took a position, it's really hard to hold them as much to account because it gives them too much wiggle room, I'd say. The other thing really is the sad state of affairs. I think Steve did, given the lack of resources he had, I think as well as any Republican could do, which we've talked about this before on the show, but I think I was right in basically predicting that Hilton would land exactly where Donald Trump's approval ratings are in the state of California. And that seems to be about his share of the vote that he received. But at the end of the day, Becerra didn't give a rip about which Republican he was running against. He could have been any generic Republican. And Becerra knew that. So he didn't ever meet with voters. And I hope, I think what may end up happening is that Becerra is going to be incredibly unpopular. even with Democrats, because they don't know him. And
not only did Becerra say that what he's against, but he never said what he was for.
00:23:25
Speaker 2: We're used to seeing Republicans with adversarial relationships with the press. Certainly Donald Trump battling with Jim Acosta of CNN was one of the themes of the first Trump term as president. We've seen that happen with other Republicans. Ron DeSantis has sparred with the press, among others. We typically don't see that with Democrats. Typically, Democrats have a cozy relationship with the press. Javier Becerra is going in the opposite direction, and he started out his term or his time as governor-elect with a very aggressive posturing against the press, letting them know that his relationship with them is going to be on his terms, and if they don't like it, tough cookies.
00:24:10
Speaker 5: Yeah, that is an interesting position he's taken. And I think it really speaks to an arrogance and a hubris that he felt that there's no way. Well, he felt safe that he was going to get elected. He probably feels relatively safe that he's going to get reelected in a blue state. I'm not so confident that he couldn't get bounced in four years by another Democrat in a primary challenge if he just completely bungles this term. But also, John, I mean, I think the answer also is Becerra is not a good candidate. He wasn't a good elected in Congress and he wasn't a good secretary. And so I think he kind of loathes any shred of accountability in the press or the people that might ask him uncomfortable questions. So I tend to think that's going to backfire, John. But he also remember Becerra comes in not just with a mandate himself because it was an easy election, but. Democrats have never been in a stronger position in the state of California and in the state legislature than certainly in my lifetime. I think it was 100 years. So he comes in what he views with as much power and mandate as any government governor has ever had.
00:25:23
Speaker 2: But that leads to the question of mandate for what? I guess my assumption is going to be that he's just going to deliver whatever the unions are asking for and assume that that's going to be enough to keep everyone happy. And maybe it is until there's a fire, there's an earthquake, there's a flood. When you need competent leadership in Sacramento to get the state through the crisis, I think that's when the wheels are going to come off. The same way it did for Karen Bass in Los Angeles during the Pacific Palisades fire when she was exposed as the emperor having no clothes. I think the same thing is going to happen to Becerra. He'll be fine as long as he's just giving... the unions and the democratic party, what they want. But the moment we need his leadership in a crisis and he cannot provide it because he doesn't have it. That's when everything falls apart.
00:26:15
Speaker 5: I completely agree. I was going to actually reference the similarities between Karen Bass's kind of rise to power, although she had a bit more competitive race against Caruso certainly than the Sarah against Hilton, but the, but the comparisons are so clear and similar. between Bass and how she was approaching governing in LA and I think what Becerra is doing. And quite frankly, Bass's reputation as a member of Congress was probably equally as feckless and useless as Becerra's reputation at a federal level. So there's a lot of similarities. And look, Bass might have pulled it off had not a quarter of her city burned down on her watch. So the crisis is what exposed Bass changed her fate. And the thing about Becerra is the odds that a crisis happens because California is so large, is high under Becerra's watch, whether it's a fire or a budget crisis or whatever it is. And Becerra is not up for that challenge. So that's why I think he's going in with the wrong approach, assuming he's unbeatable simply because he's a Democrat in a very, very blue state. But a crisis could expose a raw nerve and open up a challenge probably from some other Democrat who wants to oust him in four years.
00:27:43
Speaker 2: What do you think his relationship is going to be like with the state legislature? And I say that because when COVID hit during Gavin Newsom's terms, All of the power in Sacramento went to the governor's office. He ruled us like a king and he enjoyed it. And he carried himself in Sacramento like a celebrity. He didn't have much contact with the legislature. It was virtually impossible for them to get FaceTime with him, to get meetings with him, to go to lunch with him, whatever. Maybe if you're in the top levels of leadership within the Democratic Party, you could. Certainly no one else could. He always had a long motorcade of CHP officers around him. It was like a celebrity was in town when Gavin Newsom was in Sacramento. Javier Becerra is not a celebrity. He is a mere mortal. And it seems like the legislature would like the power imbalance to go back to where it was pre-COVID, where they can assert their authority as a co-equal branch of government, in which case Javier Becerra is going to see his office as lose some of the power that Newsom had. And he's not going to like that.
00:28:54
Speaker 5: I think that analysis is right. I've been thinking about that for the last couple of days of how this power dynamic would shake out. And I think essentially the governor is going to be an arm of the unions and kind of just follow what they want. And the unions have a lot of sway as well over the legislature. I also think because the Democrats have such mandates in the state Senate and state assembly, that increases their power among just their numbers. And quite frankly, leadership in the Senate and the Assembly on the Democratic side is much smarter and more experienced than Becerra. So I think Becerra is kind of get along to go along, largely directed by the unions and what they want. And the unions have significant influence in the state legislature. So if you were a special interest looking
to move California's politics or agenda, I'd first start with Senate and assembly leadership and then kind of go along with Becerra, assume a Becerra will go along at the tail end. It used to be the reverse. And that's in part because Newsome had a lot of attributes. He ran a competitive primary, what he ran. He was an incredible and still is fundraiser. He knew how to generate media attention with the best of them, both local and national press. And he was just a personality larger than life. A friend of mine told me the other day that Becerra showed up at a large public event and no one knew who he was. And this was largely in a group of democratic insiders that state assembly members and others had crowds around them. And Becerra is just the guy in jeans over there hanging out. I think that's largely gonna be how he's treated in Sacramento. And so in that dynamic, what's interesting, John and Randy is I think what's gonna end up happening is Becerra is going to end up being the scapegoat for Democratic leadership when things go wrong. So when things go right, the state assembly leadership and Senate are going to take credit for driving across the line. And when shit goes wrong, it's going to be Becerra's useless leadership and inability to get it.
00:31:18
Speaker 3: And that S-bomb is uncensored on the actual podcast, but because that portion was played over the radio, I had to bleep it.
00:31:25
Speaker 2: You can watch the entire uncensored edition of the Accountability Podcast online at johnnydontlike.com. That'll drop as soon as we sign off the air today at 3 o'clock. If you want to email the show, you can do so at johnnydontlikeshow at gmail.com. That's johnnydontlikeshow at gmail.com. All right, Randy, we've got an update for you on a squatter in San Francisco.
00:31:55
Speaker 3: Something is finally being done about the squatter house in the Seacliff neighborhood where people have been living there for years and years and years, even though they have no right to.
00:32:07
Speaker 1: For more, here's NBC in the Bay.
00:32:09
Speaker 6: Some relief tonight in a San Francisco neighborhood that's been the center of a bizarre squatting case. A judge ordered the woman who neighbors say is responsible for all the chaos to stay away from that vacant house in Seacliff.
00:32:21
Speaker 7: Police arrested Deanna Peng last week during a raid. NBC bearer Sid Hill-Quintano in San Francisco with the charges she's now facing. Moments after today's arraignment hearing for Deanna Peng, Whitney Lynn quickly messaged her neighbors on their long-running group chat.
00:32:37
Speaker 8: I think we're just.
00:32:38
Speaker 1: I bet that group chat is full of comments.
00:32:41
Speaker 2: Could you imagine?
00:32:43
Speaker 1: There's more trash again.
00:32:45
Speaker 8: So grateful that we can sleep tonight.
00:32:49
Speaker 7: Lynn lives next door to the Trouble House on 32nd Avenue, which neighbors like Lynn have been complaining about squatters for months. One of those suspected squatters is Peng. Police arrested her after a raid last Friday. And today, prosecutors formally charged her with several crimes, including being a felon in possession of a gun, ammunition, and drugs. Because the charges include nonviolent felonies, she would not qualify for being held in custody till trial.
00:33:15
Speaker 1: Wait a second here.
00:33:18
Speaker 3: We don't consider being a felon in possession of a gun a violent crime, so she gets to go out on bail?
00:33:28
Speaker 2: What do you think the odds are she doesn't show up for her court appearance?
00:33:32
Speaker 1: 100%.
00:33:35
Speaker 7: The judge did order Elizabeth Pang to be released from custody, but the conditions of that release are a big relief for the people in that neighborhood. The judge ordered Pang to wear an ankle monitor, undergo drug testing, and she issued an order to stay at least 150 yards away from the house on 32nd Avenue.
00:33:52
Speaker 8: Until the stay away order.
00:33:54
Speaker 1: Yeah, but who's going to enforce that?
00:33:57
Speaker 2: Yeah, if she gets inside that house successfully, you're going to have to do another raid to get her out of there.
00:34:04
Speaker 3: And one of the things that people need to understand about the probation system and ankle monitors is those departments are so understaffed. Sometimes nobody's really even paying attention. Johnny, you remember Mia Ventura, the ex-fiance of Steven Klubeck?
00:34:24
Speaker 1: Don't bust the trust.
00:34:26
Speaker 3: When she got arrested earlier this year in Beverly Hills because Riverside County had figured out that she robbed a bunch of people at Coachella, they found out that she had destroyed her ankle monitor.
00:34:41
Speaker 2: Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha.
00:34:44
Speaker 3: And it wasn't probation that caught on to that. It was because she got arrested on a different crime. So just because somebody's on an ankle monitor doesn't mean anybody's actually paying attention to it.
00:34:57
Speaker 2: Of course not.
00:34:58
Speaker 8: There was a real possibility that I would be leaving this courtroom. And Diana Pang would be back in this house this evening.
00:35:05
Speaker 3: It's been 18 months of honestly hell.
00:35:09
Speaker 8: And we have been saying for months and months, this person is on narcotics.
00:35:13
Speaker 4: She's driving impaired.
00:35:15
Speaker 7: Among the items.
00:35:16
Speaker 3: It is wild that this is such a problem in our major cities throughout the entire state. And there's no action at all from state government to change our overly generous laws when it comes to tenants that allow you to illegally occupy a property for 18 months.
00:35:34
Speaker 7: Police say they found in the home methamphetamines, a handgun, lots of bullets, and seven dogs.
00:35:44
Speaker 2: Okay, if you live in that neighborhood, you're paying a fortune to live there. And you're living next to someone who is a drug-addicted criminal who is ready
for a shootout?
00:35:57
Speaker 1: They're nonviolent, though, so they're getting out on bail.
00:36:00
Speaker 7: For months, neighbors have been pushing for city leaders to do something about what's been going on inside the house, which was seemingly abandoned several years ago.
00:36:08
Speaker 1: Let me guess. Chinese owner?
00:36:14
Speaker 7: Board of Supervisors decided to put the house up for auction because taxes haven't been paid on it since 2020. At a news conference today, District Attorney Brooke Jenkins was asked several times about other legal issues related to the house.
00:36:28
Speaker 8: I know that there's been a lot of questions, a lot of reporting on the ownership of the house and other civil matters related to that house or potential criminal activity. We cannot speak on that today. We're not going to talk about any potential investigations.
00:36:44
Speaker 7: The city attorney's office has also filed a lawsuit against Pang claiming fraudulent activity related to ownership of the house. She has denied those claims. The house is slated to go on the auction block by the city on December 22nd.
00:36:57
Speaker 1: What do you think the insides of those walls look like?
00:37:04
Speaker 2: It's going to be worse than a frat house.
00:37:07
Speaker 7: In San Francisco, Sergio Quintana, NBC Bay Area News.
00:37:10
Speaker 3: So they finally got the squatter out. She was arrested, had guns, drugs, bullets, and dogs inside the house, but she's on an ankle monitor and she is required to not go back into the house as they put it up for auction, but she might go back.
00:37:29
Speaker 2: If she doesn't end up squatting at that house, my guess is she's going to end up squatting somewhere else, which is why she should be in jail. She is a dangerous person who has drugs in her possession. What else do you need to know?
00:37:45
Speaker 3: If you're forging your own name on documents showing that you rent or own a property, how do we not have truffer rules on the books where someone will actually get prison time for that? Because you talk about California being in a housing crisis. First off, How many abandoned buildings are there? We seem to talk about these stories every single week in the news, whether it's in Southern California or Northern California, and how many properties are somewhere that somebody could be living in, but they're being.
00:38:18
Speaker 1: Squatted in by a criminal.
00:38:20
Speaker 2: And why are foreigners even allowed to buy property in California to begin with? With a housing crisis, it should be American citizens who can buy American property and and Chinese investors could invest their money someplace else.
00:38:35
Speaker 3: That would definitely do something, but even at the state level, even at the federal level, with this federal government, they don't want to touch that one with a 10-foot pole.
00:38:44
Speaker 1: Why? I couldn't tell you.
00:38:46
Speaker 2: Well, it's probably propping up the real estate market. More dollars being invested in the real estate market, higher bids coming in from foreign entities, it causes the value of real estate to go up, But when the value keeps going up and up and up and up because you have all these foreign dollars that are now relevant, then how do you expect American citizens to be able to buy any of these properties?