Los Angeles D.A. who linked death penalty to racism won't seek execution for accused cop-killer

A Los Angeles County prosecutor who last year declared the death penalty effectively off-limits in his district has barred his office from seeking execution for an accused cop-killer. 

L.A. County prosecutors said District Attorney George Gascon ordered them to cease seeking the death penalty against Michael Mejia, who stands accused of killing Whittier police officer Keith Boyer during a 2017 shootout. 

Mejia, a member of the "Winter Gardens" gang, has reportedly admitted to killing Boyer during an exchange of gunfire, though his trial is yet to take place. Deputy District Attorney Garrett Dameron during a hearing this week stated that he and a fellow deputy attorney had been "ordered to remove the death penalty as punishment consideration in this case."

Gascon late last year issued a directive to all attorneys in his office ordering them to "[refrain] from filing letters stating an intention to seek the death penalty, filing briefs, seeking discovery, or making arguments in court that indicate that the death penalty is an appropriate sentence."

"A sentence of death is never an appropriate resolution in any case," Gascon said, further claiming that "racism and the death penalty are inextricably intertwined" and that "numerous studies have found that race influences who is sentenced to die in this country and in California."