COUNTYWIDE : 2 Congressmen Back Proposition 115

Reps. Elton Gallegly (R-Simi Valley) and Robert Lagomarsino (R-Ventura) on Friday announced their support for Proposition 115, the so-called “speedy trial” initiative.

“It is long overdue that we start giving as much consideration to the victim as we do the criminals,” Gallegly said. “Victims have civil rights as well as criminals.”

Gallegly and Lagomarsino said the June ballot measure will not only help speed trials, but ease jail crowding and reduce the cost of prosecuting criminals.

If it passes, Proposition 115 would eliminate some pretrial hearings after grand jury indictments, give judges rather than lawyers the right to question jurors before trial and consolidate trials of multiple defendants accused of the same crime.

The congressmen announced their support for the initiative at a news conference outside the Ventura County Government Center. Also attending and endorsing the ballot measure were Ventura County Sheriff John Gillespie, Assistant Dist. Atty. Toy White and Camarillo resident Patti Linebaugh, whose 2-year-old granddaughter, Amy Sue Seitz, was raped and murdered in 1978.

“I am outraged at the mockery of our court system, the intentional delays, the millions of dollars of taxpayers’ money spent to protect the defendants,” Linebaugh said in a written statement.

“It’s time for the voters of this state to demand their rights for an expeditious trial and swift carry-out of the punishment rendered. Use the taxpayers’ dollars to prevent crime, not encourage it.”