A California district attorney is requiring her prosecutors to consider looters’ “needs” when weighing criminal charges against them.
The new mandate, set forth by Contra Costa County District Attorney Diane Becton, makes it tougher to prosecute looting cases in the county, which sits just outside San Francisco.
Investigators must now consider “was this theft offense substantially motivated by the state of emergency, or simply a theft offense which occurred contemporaneously to the declared state of emergency?,” according to the policy reported by local outlet East County Today.
In making that determination, they must also consider five other factors, including “was the theft committed for financial gain or personal need?”
The new policy comes amid the swell of protests, looting and riots in the wake of police-involved shootings of black people across the country.
nypost.com/2020/09/02/das-policy-to-consider-looters-needs-before-charging-them/
www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/california-district-attorney-issues-new-policy-to-consider-looters-needs/vi-BB18Fumq?ocid=spartan-ntp-feeds