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THE VIEW FROM HERE - What Is Obstruction of Justice?
Obstruction of justice is behavior which interferes with a law enforcement agency’s investigation and/or prosecution of a criminal matter.
Mayor Karen Bass’ apparent interference with the LAPD’s investigation of the illegal audio tape made at the Federation of Labor and subsequent conduct such as Jason Reedy’s stalking, assault and battery on councilmember Kevin de Leòn could constitute obstruction of justice. The law makes no exception for mayors. A society based on the rule of law cannot permit interference with law enforcement’s performing its duties. A plethora of state and federal statutes may be invoked when a Mayor interferes with an investigation and/or the charging of a person with a crime.
Nationally, there has been an on-going debate whether the Biden Administration has interfered with the FBI and other law enforcement agencies including the Department of Justice by pushing for investigations and prosecutions of Donald Trump. Likewise, when people including a federal judge believe there may have been political pressure not to fully investigate and prosecute President Joe Biden’s son, Hunter Biden, there is need to investigate whether there has been political pressure. This article takes no position about either Donald Trump or Hunter Biden. One legal remedy for questions of obstruction of justice is the appointment of a Special Prosecutor.
A special prosecutor occurs when people, rightly or wrongful, fear that political pressure from the top, e.g. a President or Mayor, has improperly influenced a criminal investigation. The special prosecutor is supposed to have sole authority and independence to conduct a criminal investigation, because the public needs to have have faith in results of the investigation. That need has arisen in the city of Los Angeles.
Reasons to Believe That Mayor Karen Bass Has Obstructed Justice with the Jason Reedy Matter
Los Angeles needs a special prosecutor to investigate the failure to arrest and prosecute Jason Reedy, who stalked, assaulted, and battered councilmember Kevin de Leòn. The reasonable grounds to object to Mayor Bass’s behavior took a giant leap forward with City Attorney Hydee Feldman-Soto’s alleged decision not to arrest Jason Reedy and that she will not arrest his victim councilmember Kevin de Leòn.
The agency to investigate the leaking of the illegal audio tape and Jason Reed’s political violence is either the LAPD or the FBI. As readers of CityWatch may know, this column believes the FBI could not find the Pacific Ocean while standing on the Santa Monica Pier. Thus, we have been focusing on the LAPD and Chief Michael Moore for the failure to arrest Jason Reedy.
Last year on December 11, 2022, the LAPD announced that it was investigating Labor Federation’s illegal audio tape and the Reedy incidents. LAPD website Since then, this column has found no LAPD updates on the investigation. Since there is video tape showing Reedy’s stalking, assault and battery, the LAPD’s dilatory behavior was problematic, especially since Jason Reedy, a member of Black Lives Matter, is seen as a political ally of Mayor Karen Bass.
After seven (7) months of silence waiting for the LAPD to arrest Reedy, this column renewed the subject about two weeks ago.
July 31, 2023, CityWatch, LAPD Fiascos
“The political structure of the city is not merely corrupt, but now it is based on defamatory lies, on deaths threats, on mobs surrounding councilmembers’ homes, and on physical attacks in public – all with approval of Mayor Karen Bass and the LAPD.”
August 3, 2023, CityWatch, Los Angeles’ Cast of Cowards, Villains, and Dupes
“Chief Moore faces the moral challenge of a lifetime. While the truth will set him free, it will also lose him his job.”
August 7, 2023, CityWatch, How Corrupt is the LAPD?
“The time is overdue for integrity to replace political expediency.”
Jason Reedy’s Potential Crimes
Jason Reedy’s December 9, 2022, stalking, assault and battery form a criminal unity, so to speak. Jason Reedy and his cohorts came to a Children’s Christmas party which Councilmember de Leòn was attending as part of his official function as a councilmember. Jason Reedy and his cohorts came to continue their stalking of Kevin de Leòn. One may draw this conclusion if one only looks at the video tape and ignores, temporarily, Jason Reedy’s weeks of stalking including his appearances at city council to disrupt an official government proceeding. Free Speech does not protect closing down city council sessions because the “activist” wants someone to resign.
Stalking
The tape shows Kevin Reedy’s stalking Kevin de Leòn. Penal Code § 646.9 makes it criminal to follow, harass, and threaten someone to the point that the person fears for his or her safety. Dec 9, 2022 Video
The tape shows Reedy’d blocking Kevin de Leòn’s way, while Reedy and his associates call Kevin a racist and demand that he resign from the city council. (After mobs surrounded Nury Martinez’ home and death threats were made against her children, Nury Martinez resigned as city council president.) Kevin attempted to leave the Xmas party, but Reedy and his associates stood in Kevin’s way, followed Kevin out of the room, whereupon Reedy backed Kevin against a wall and head butted him (Video 26-28)
Assault
The tape shows an assault: Penal Code § 240 PC defines an assault as an unlawful attempt, along with the present ability, to cause a violent injury to another person. The court has made clear, that an assault is a separate crime from a battery. One could say that an assault occurs when the victim is in reasonable fear of an immediate battery. “An assault occurs whenever `"[t]he next movement would, at least to all appearance, complete the battery." ' “. . An assault is an incipient or inchoate battery; a battery is a consummated assault.' Cal. Supreme Court, People v Chance, 44 Cal.4th 1164, 1170 (2008) Thus, even if Jason Reedy had not head butted Kevin de Leòn, Reedy committed a criminal assault.
Battery
Penal Code §242 PC defines battery as the “willful and unlawful use of force or violence” The video shows the head butting. Despite the people between Jason Reedy and the camera, the cell phone videos show that Reedy head butted the councilmember.
Terrorist Threats and Physical Intimidation of Public Officials
Free speech does not include terrorist threats and criminal behavior to coerce office holders to quit due to fear that they or their loved ones will be harmed. The LAPD has evidence of these serious crimes after KNOCK LA released the audio tape in October and its False Narrative of anti-Black racism. The Unnoticed Woker Coup d'Ètat of Los Angeles
LAPD is MIA
Who other than Karen Bass has the power to stop the LAPD investigation and instead have her political ally, City Attorney Hydee Feldman-Soto take over? This is not a misdemeanor shoplifting. Over all, the string of related criminal acts involve shutting down the city government, attacks on the city hall and the police officers at city council chamber, terrorist threats, forcing councilmembers to flee from their homes and go into hiding and even to quit to protect their children from harm.
More outlandish than turning such a large matter over to a person totally devoid of any experience in criminal prosecution, the City Attorney may not investigate a councilmember. Hydee Feldman-Soto breached the most basic attorney client rule. She may not undertake an assignment which could be potentially detrimental to an existing client. Flatt v. Superior Court (Daniel) (1994) 9 Cal.4th 275, 36 Cal.Rptr.2d 537
The City Attorney’s main function is to be the attorney for the city, for officials including councilmembers and for the city employees. (Charter, Vol 1, Art II, Sec. 271) What makes it legally intolerable is that the City Attorney apparently undertook this illicit task in secret and the public did not learn about it until the KNOCK LA reporter Jon Peltz broke the story! KNOCK LA gets the news gives it to the LA Times. August 10, 2023, LA Times
Let’s be redundant: Hydee Feldman-Soto is Kevin de Leòn’s attorney as he is an elected official and the Charter makes all councilmembers her clients. She is absolutely barred from undertaking any case which could be adverse to Kevin de Leòn. Undertaking any legal assignment where she could have an interest adverse to her client such as investigation whether Kevin battered Jason Reedy is totally verboten. Her job is to defend councilmembers. The fact that she did not reject the entire case is despicable. In addition to violating Kevin de Leòn’s rights, she also seriously compromised Jason Reedy’s rights for the same reason. Hydee Feldman-Soto already is Kevin’s attorney. If Reedy civilly sued Kevin, Feldman-Soto would be the councilmember’s attorney. All the news stories are holding out Kevin de Leòn as a co-combatant, when he was the victim. The stalking, the threats, the assault and the battery are all designed to force Kevin de de Leòn to quit the city council. Such crimes vastly exceed City Attorney’s jurisdiction.
On What Planet Does Feldman-Soto Live?
The City Attorney cannot undertake a case that involves one of her clients in order to do a political favor for the mayor! Karen Bass has made a nightmare of everything stemming from the illegally recorded audio tape. All candidate Bass had to do was tell the truth. Bass was on the float with Nury and Bonin’s son. Allegedly Bass was going to correct the defamatory lies, but some of her backers wanted to conceal the truth from the public. The result was Bass supported the False Narrative. If Karen Bass had spoken up, all of this could have been avoided. She even took the stage at the campaign event sponsored by the American Jewish Committee (AJC), the Anti-Defamation League (ADL) and the Jewish Federation Council (JFC) and mislead them to believe that the three councilmember were anti-Black. As a result, all the organizations were duped. Who had the connections to get President Biden to call for councilmembers to resign?
Angelenos need a special prosecutor to investigate Karen Bass’s obstruction of justice, but no one has to guts to ask for one.
(Richard Lee Abrams has been an attorney, a Realtor and community relations consultant as well as a CityWatch contributor. You may email him at [email protected]. The opinions expressed are those of the author and not necessarily those of CityWatchLA.com.)
