SAN DIEGO — The San Diego County District Attorney's office is speaking out about new resentencing laws in California, saying the release of prisoners is making the community unsafe.
As many as one thousand cases may have to go back to court, according to Rachel Solov, a Chief Deputy District Attorney in the San Diego DA’s office.
“It has added quite a burden to our workload,” said Solov. “Probably all total, we're talking about several hundred, if not one thousand or more cases that we're having to go back into court. And, we're having to contact the victims.”
Solov is in charge of a team of eight prosecutors, who argue in court at resentencing hearings made possible by a series of new laws in California aimed at reducing prison sentences.
The laws allow judges to consider lesser offenses, or resentence certain people convicted of murder or manslaughter.
One of those cases involved is former La Jolla restaurant owner Daniel Dorado, who was sentenced to 40 years in prison in 2020 after sexually assaulting four women.
In October, an appeals court ruled Dorado had to be resentenced under the new California laws.
“We're talking about cases where victims have suffered lifelong impacts, lifelong losses. And so, they're having to relive that experience again when these cases come back into court,” said Solov.
In another case, Ramon Del Rio, convicted of a double murder in 1978, was released from custody after an appeals court ordered re-sentencing and the trial transcripts could not be located.
“They're just released. There's no time for that reentry planning, for that supervision in the community to make sure that they're doing okay, once released. So, in many cases, it does make the community less safe,” said Solov.
The purpose of resentencing laws was to make the court system more fair, according to veteran defense attorney, Jan Ronis.
“It’s very difficult for the public sometimes to comprehend the complexity of these laws. But in general, their intent is to make punishment more closely fit the crime,” Ronis said.
He pointed out, a sentence reduction does not necessarily mean an inmate will be released right away.
Dorado, the former La Jolla restaurant owner, was sentence three years ago. His resentencing, currently set for April 25, would not lead to his immediate release.
“My experience has been, in general, these laws are good because there has been a thought that there are too many people in California in too many prisons for too long,” said Ronis.
Watch Related: Court orders resentencing for La Jolla restaurant owner who sexually assaulted four women (Feb 2, 2023)