Fox’s first — Los Angeles voters may be done dealing with George Gascón, but the outgoing district attorney's efforts to free a brutal murderer from prison are far from over.
A former public defender brought in by Mr. Gascon as a “special prosecutor” commuted the sentence of a death row inmate convicted of a mass shooting in which he and an accomplice forced 11 people into a walk-in freezer at Bob's Big Boy Restaurant. I'm looking for. A few days before Christmas in 1980, he was robbed and shot in the back, killing four people and wounding four more.
Ricardo “Ricky” Sanders, now 69, and his accomplice, Franklin Freeman Jr., were found guilty of participating in the massacre at the La Cienega Boulevard restaurant.
Freeman was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole. Mr. Sanders was sentenced to death but has not yet been executed, pending an appeal and California suspending the death penalty.
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Big Boy statue outside Bob's Big Boy Restaurant in Santa Paula, California. (Patricia Marroquin/Getty Images/File)
Sanders is fighting a counterclaim after the appeal deadline has expired. Sheran Joseph, a former public defender and current Gascón special prosecutor, is handling the request.
Joseph's past support for commuting sentences has sparked protests from relatives of victims, including the family of Fred Rose, who was kidnapped, robbed and murdered in 1992.
She successfully oversaw the commutation of the sentence of murderer Scott Forrest Collins, who was taken off death row in 2022 but died in prison shortly after.
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A spokeswoman for Gascón's office said the re-offending charge against Sanders stemmed from his defense. Sanders' public defender did not respond to a request for comment.
His crime is one of the worst murders in Los Angeles.
“Mr. Sanders' heinous and horrific crimes do not merit any consideration for reoffending,” said Kathleen Cady, a prominent Los Angeles victim advocate who filed a brief with the court this week. “We must never forget the victims and their families whose lives were taken by him.”
Los Angeles County District Attorney George Gascon (AP Photo/Eric Thayer/File)
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brutal crime
The details of the mass murder were well documented throughout the trial and appeals process.
Sanders and Freeman forced their way into the store at approximately 2 a.m. on December 14, 1980, as employees were closing up the store. After the employee unlocked the door to let two customers leave, he burst through the door with a gun.
“We're going to go all the way,” Sanders said, according to court documents. “You're going to get hurt.”
Freeman struck someone in the head with the butt of a shotgun, knocking him out, and the rest of the group went to the back of the restaurant. Mr. Sanders had the night manager empty $1,300 from the safe and force the group into the freezer.
This December 15, 1980 image shows Bob's Big Boy restaurant at 1845 S. La Cienega Boulevard in Los Angeles, the site of multiple murders. This structure has since been demolished. (Rob Brown/Herald Examiner Collection)
The scammers demanded wallets, watches and jewelry. The victims held out their valuables in buckets, and some “begged the robbers not to hurt them,” according to court documents.
Sanders and Freeman told everyone to turn around and kneel facing the wall. They then opened fire with pistols and shotguns, continuing to shoot the group from behind until they ran out of ammunition.
Three of the victims died instantly. The fourth person died after being hospitalized for several months. Four other people were injured, including one who lost an eye and another who suffered a spinal cord injury that left him unable to walk for the rest of his life.
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According to court documents, Sanders had no alibi and argued at trial that four witnesses and two informants incorrectly identified him as one of the shooters. Both suspects were not wearing masks on the night of the crime.
The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals upheld his death sentence in 2017. California's stay of execution has kept him on death row for decades, but it is unlikely he will ever be executed.
Freeman received a separate sentence of life without parole, according to state prison records. Another suspect involved in the robbery scheme, Carlesa Stewart, was sentenced to life in prison, the newspaper said. Los Angeles Times.
Stewart, who is not currently in state custody, was dating Sanders at the time of the robbery, is Freeman's cousin and previously worked at the restaurant, according to court documents. She was the central figure in the robbery plan and warned one of her friends, who was working there at the time, not to go to the restaurant on the night of the crime.
From left: former Gascón adviser Alisa Blair, special prosecutor Sheran Joseph in charge of Mr. Sanders' retrial, prosecutor George Gascón, and chief of staff Tiffiny Bracknell. (Los Angeles District Attorney's Office)
The victims were diner owner David Burrell and employees Dita Agtan, Ahmad Mushuk, and Cesario Luna. Luna's son also works at the restaurant, witnessed his father's murder, and survived the massacre.
“Mr. Sanders has been sentenced to death and all his appeals have been exhausted,” a person familiar with the case told Fox News Digital. “After 25 years of litigation and exhausting his appeals, the Gascón government is now making him eligible for parole.”
But the official added that if the sentence is commuted to life in prison without parole, Sanders would lose some privileges, such as a private cell and access to elite lawyers.
A resentencing hearing is scheduled for November 22nd.
Sanders' legal team at trial included Leslie Abramson, a prominent Los Angeles defense attorney who also played a role in the Menendez brothers' case.
From left: Eric Menendez, his attorney Leslie Abramson, and his brother Lyle in a Los Angeles courtroom on March 9, 1994. (Ted Soki/Sigma via Getty Images)
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Gascón, a longtime opponent of the death penalty, has also filed another plea of contrition for two convicted murderers, but hearings are scheduled after he leaves office.
Joseph Menendez, known by his middle name Lyle, and his brother Eric Menendez have been in a California prison since 1996, serving life sentences without the possibility of parole. Murder of parents in 1989.
This situation could change quickly if any of the new demands for their release are granted. Petition for clemency from Gov. Gavin Newsom. or a pending resentencing request.
Newsom said this week that he would hold off on ruling on the Menendez brothers' case until Gascón's successor, Nathan Hockman, has had a chance to consider it.
