LOS ANGELES –
District Attorney Steve Cooley today attacked
Congressman David Dreier’s proposed legislation giving
suspected cop killers a break when they flee the country
to avoid prosecution.
The California
Republican’s proposal, announced today in Washington,
D.C., makes it a federal crime to kill a police officer
and flee the country to avoid prosecution. The proposed
legislation allows for the possibility of parole under
federal law that’s not available under state law to
defendants convicted of killing a law enforcement
officer.
“It’s a bad law
with unintended consequences to local prosecutors,”
Cooley said. “The effect of this legislation would be to
prohibit the state from prosecuting defendants charged
with murdering peace officers when local police and
state prosecutors are much more experienced and frankly,
better at it.”
Cooley added the
bill -- first proposed a year ago by Los Angeles County
Sheriff Lee Baca -- caters to the demands of the Mexican
Supreme Court which refuses to extradite murder suspects
back to California to stand trial if they face either
the death penalty or life without parole.
“This bill
cheapens the price of murder of a peace officer and
actually gives murderers an incentive to flee to Mexico
to get a break if convicted,’’ he said. “For all of
these reasons, we are unalterably opposed to this
proposed legislation.”
jr
