D.A. Hopefuls Spar Over 3-Strikes Law, Gun Controls

In another sharp, frequently hostile debate, the two candidates for Los Angeles district attorney offered strongly differing views on the three-strikes law, gun control and crime-prevention programs.

Dist. Atty. Gil Garcetti went after challenger Steve Cooley, accusing him of waging a “negative, negative, negative” campaign. Cooley did little to deny that charge. He called Garcetti a “press conference prosecutor,” compared the incumbent unfavorably to the NBA’s Indiana Pacers and said at one point, in a reference to gun control: “You’re so hypocritical on this, it really is beyond belief.”

The two candidates held the fifth debate of their runoff campaign late Wednesday evening on Fox Channel 11.

Garcetti is seeking a third term as the county’s lead prosecutor, but he is believed to be badly trailing Cooley, one of his top deputies, in a campaign that has been harshly negative on both sides.

At Wednesday’s debate, Cooley, a registered Republican, seemed to go out of his way to prove he is not a party-line conservative. He demanded to know whether Garcetti had taken any action against state Insurance Commissioner Chuck Quackenbush, a Republican under fire over handling of earthquake claims.

Garcetti, who is a Democrat, replied that, as a state official, Quackenbush is under the jurisdiction of the state attorney general.

Cooley drew a distinction between himself and Garcetti on enforcement of the three-strikes law, which mandates a sentence of 25 years to life for a third felony conviction. Cooley believes in a selective use of the law only against people convicted of serious violent crimes.

“Mr. Garcetti’s policy has been quite abusive, resulted in some very bizarre results,” Cooley said. “When you have people going off to prison, 25-to-life, for stealing diapers, for stealing clothes, stealing food, this is not just.”

Garcetti defended his use of the law, saying, “If we get a gang member who stole a CD, and we know he is guilty of other crimes . . . I’m going to use that three-strike law to put that guy away for the rest of his life.”

Garcetti challenged Cooley on gun control, demanding to know whether he would support a buyback program for assault weapons. “Will you join me in that, Steve?” he asked.

“No, I won’t, Mr. Garcetti,” Cooley shot back. He went on to call Garcetti hypocritical for tak “NRA money” in campaign contributions. Garcetti recently returned a $1,000 contribution from an attorney for the National Rifle Assn. Cooley did not identify any other NRA contributors.

Garcetti also spoke passionately about his support for crime-prevention programs, and demanded to know which ones Cooley would abolish if he were elected. Cooley initially balked, but later said he would probably abolish the Juvenile Offenders Learning Tolerance program, which he said had been ineffective in achieving its goal of reducing hate crimes.