{"id":5771,"date":"2025-01-22T16:39:32","date_gmt":"2025-01-23T00:39:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/citystuff.com\/los-angeles\/?p=5771"},"modified":"2025-01-22T16:39:32","modified_gmt":"2025-01-23T00:39:32","slug":"prosecutor-reaches-tentative-settlement-in-retaliation-suit","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/citystuff.com\/los-angeles\/prosecutor-reaches-tentative-settlement-in-retaliation-suit\/","title":{"rendered":"Prosecutor Reaches Tentative Settlement in Retaliation Suit"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><strong>Prosecutor Reaches Tentative Settlement in Retaliation Suit Involving Former DA Gasc\u00f3n<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>A veteran prosecutor has tentatively settled his lawsuit against Los Angeles County, alleging he was demoted for bucking former District Attorney George Gasc\u00f3n&#8217;s controversial sentencing directives.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Background<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Deputy District Attorney Michael K. Matoba alleged in the suit that he was transferred in October 2021 from a high-profile post in the Sex Crimes Unit to a less prestigious job in the Elder Abuse Unit because he informed the court that Gasc\u00f3n&#8217;s blanket policy to exclude special circumstance allegations was unlawful.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Claims of Retaliation<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Matoba alleged that the transfer was a result of his involvement in prosecuting sexually violent predator Kenneth Kasten Rasmuson for the murders of two 6-year-old boys, Jeffrey Vargo of Anaheim Hills and Miguel Antero of Agoura Hills. According to the lawsuit, Matoba&#8217;s motion to drop sentencing enhancements for Rasmuson was opposed by Gasc\u00f3n and his then-chief of staff, Joseph Iniguez.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Tentative Settlement<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Beth D. Corriea, an attorney representing Matoba, filed a settlement notice with the court Tuesday indicating that a request to dismiss the suit will be submitted no later than September 1. Terms of the proposed settlement were not disclosed.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Prior Settlements<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>At least two prosecutors who have sued Gasc\u00f3n have received hefty settlements. Richard Doyle, a former head deputy district attorney who has since retired, received an $800,000 settlement in 2021. Shawn Randolph, a head deputy district attorney, received a $1.5 million settlement in 2023 for her suit alleging a retaliatory transfer from a prestigious position to a &quot;dead-end&quot; job after complaining about juvenile sentencing policies.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Conclusion<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>The settlement marks another milestone in the ongoing controversy surrounding Gasc\u00f3n&#8217;s tenure as DA. The lawsuits filed by Matoba and other prosecutors have alleged widespread retaliation and abuse of power by Gasc\u00f3n and his staff.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Frequently Asked Questions<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>What is the alleged reason for Matoba&#8217;s transfer?\n<ul>\n<li>Matoba alleged that he was transferred for bucking Gasc\u00f3n&#8217;s controversial sentencing directives and informing the court that Gasc\u00f3n&#8217;s blanket policy to exclude special circumstance allegations was unlawful.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li>How many prosecutors have sued Gasc\u00f3n alleging retaliation?\n<ul>\n<li>At least 24 prosecutors have filed lawsuits against Gasc\u00f3n alleging they too faced retaliation for challenging his policies.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li>What is the status of the lawsuit?\n<ul>\n<li>A tentative settlement has been reached, and a request to dismiss the suit will be submitted no later than September 1.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li>What are the terms of the proposed settlement?\n<ul>\n<li>The terms of the proposed settlement were not disclosed.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Prosecutor Reaches Tentative Settlement in Retaliation Suit Involving Former DA Gasc\u00f3n A veteran prosecutor has tentatively settled his lawsuit against Los Angeles County, alleging he was demoted for bucking former District Attorney George Gasc\u00f3n&#8217;s controversial sentencing directives. Background Deputy District Attorney Michael K. Matoba alleged in the suit that he was transferred in October 2021 [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":5772,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"rank_math_lock_modified_date":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[23],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-5771","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-news"},"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i1.wp.com\/www.dailynews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/11\/LDN-Z-GEORGE-GASCON.jpg?w=1024&h=682&w=1024&resize=1024,682&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/citystuff.com\/los-angeles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5771"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/citystuff.com\/los-angeles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/citystuff.com\/los-angeles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/citystuff.com\/los-angeles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/citystuff.com\/los-angeles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5771"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/citystuff.com\/los-angeles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5771\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5773,"href":"https:\/\/citystuff.com\/los-angeles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5771\/revisions\/5773"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/citystuff.com\/los-angeles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/5772"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/citystuff.com\/los-angeles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5771"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/citystuff.com\/los-angeles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5771"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/citystuff.com\/los-angeles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5771"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}