ICYMI: LA TIMES COVERS SIDDALL

ENTRANCE IN DA CONTEST

LA Times: “A Thorn in Gascón’s Side Dating to his 2020 Campaign, Siddall and the Deputy D.A.’s Union Have Been Among Gascón’s Most Prominent Foes.”

LOS ANGELES, CA — Deputy District Attorney Eric Sapetto Siddall announced his campaign against Los Angeles County District Attorney George Gascón on Monday, after serving for nearly a decade as vice president of the Deputy District Attorney’s union and handling some of the county’s most complex cases, including prosecuting crimes against police officers and serious gang crimes.

Siddall’s entrance to the race comes just a week after he successfully convicted the cop killer who murdered Los Angeles Police Officer Paul Verna forty years ago. As a labor leader, openly gay Latino father, Democrat, and career prosecutor, Siddall is challenging the incumbent District Attorney George Gascón on a platform of advocating for responsible reform while prioritizing public safety.

Read key excerpts from the Los Angeles Times story on Siddall’s entrance to the race below:

Los Angeles Times: An L.A. County D.A.’s union leader, veteran judge latest to challenge Gascón’s reelection

“Deputy Dist. Atty. Eric Siddall announced his bid to unseat Gascón early Monday, promising to run on behalf of a ‘new generation of prosecutors’ who can thread the needle between the incumbent’s idealism and the district attorneys who helped make California a prime example of mass incarceration.

‘I feel like I represent that generation, and we want to see things change. We want to see things better,’ said Siddall, 48, vice president of the Assn. of Deputy District Attorneys. ‘We’re not these old-school prosecutors who are hellbent on getting the maximum sentence on every single person.’”

[...]

“A thorn in Gascón’s side dating to his 2020 campaign, Siddall and the deputy D.A.’s union have been among Gascón’s most prominent foes. They successfully sued to block a portion of Gascón’s reform platform limiting the use of sentencing enhancements against convicted felons charged with new offenses, after a judge agreed with the union’s contention that it violated California’s ‘three strikes’ law.”

[...]

“‘If you want a progressive office that functions and not a progressive office that is completely dysfunctional and doesn’t actually get any of the job done, then I’m your candidate,’ he said. ‘I will get it done, I know how to get it done, I know how to get the buy-in from the deputy D.A.’s.’

A deputy district attorney since 2007, Siddall has handled some of the county’s most complicated cases in recent years as a member of the units that prosecute serious gang crimes and attacks on police officers. Although he’s never been a manager, Siddall said his decade on his union’s board of directors had led him to understand ‘the internal workings of this office probably far better than anyone in [Gascón’s] management structure.’

If elected, Siddall would be L.A. county’s first-ever LGBTQ+ district attorney.”

ABOUT ERIC SAPETTO SIDDALL

The son of an Argentine immigrant mother who served as a United States Civil Rights Commissioner and ran a law practice catering to the Latino community, and a father who was a deputy public defender, Eric Sapetto Siddall grew up in a home that valued public service.

He served as Vice President of the Los Angeles Association of Deputy District Attorneys for nearly a decade, as well as a board member of the victims’ rights group, Justice For Murdered Children. Eric is also designated as a Special Assistant United States Attorney for the Central District of California. He is assigned to the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office Crimes Against Peace Officers Division. Eric's past assignments include prosecuting gang homicides, domestic violence, and sex crimes, including crimes against children. He has tried over 80 jury trials.

Eric has written extensively on California criminal justice issues. He has trained prosecutors and police officers through programs directed by the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office, the Los Angeles Police Department, the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department, and the United States Department of Justice. He is a past board member and vice president of the Latino Prosecutors Association. Aside from being a prosecutor, Eric serves on the board of the Galileo Foundation, an organization focused on supporting the work of the Pontifical Academies of Sciences and Social Science. Eric received his Juris Doctorate from Fordham University School of Law and studied philosophy at Boston College.

Eric lives in Highland Park with his partner and son.

For more information please visit EricSiddall.com.

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ERIC SAPETTO SIDDALL FOR DISTRICT ATTORNEY 2024; FPPC #

Eric Sapetto Siddall for District Attorney 2024
515 S. Figueroa St.
Suite 1110
Los Angeles, CA 90071
United States