When 23-year-old homeless man Isiah Lee charged and tackled 48-year-old comedian David Chappelle at his Hollywood Bowl performance May 3, the public was aghast after watching March 28 53-year-old Best Actor Will Smith slap 57-year-old Chris Rock for making a joke about his 50-year-old wife Jada Pinkett Smith. Both incidents have in common a lack of charges by 68-year-old Los Angeles County District Attorney George Gascon. Gascon currently faces a recall campaign collecting enough signatures to toss the liberal DA out of office. Gascon defends his charging and prosecution record, going overboard on rehab rather than felony charges and prison sentences for the wide range of crimes afflicting the Los Angeles area since he began serving his term Dec. 20, 2020. Chappelle’s incident should put the recall-Gascon effort over the top for the November ballot.
Chappelle’s attorney Gabriel Colwell asked that Gascon reconsider charging Lee with a felony for his onstage attack of the controversial comedian. “We request that DA Gascon reconsider, correct his mistake and charge this as felony,” Colwell said, noting that Gascon’s refusal to charge Lee with a felony resulted in the case referred to City Attorney Mike Feuer, only charging him with a misdemeanor. “This is what Mr. Chappelle wants. Mr. Chappelle wants this case charged as a felony,” said Colwell. Gascon’s tendency to not charge robbers and burglars with felonies results in a crime waves in Los Angeles, with criminals knowing that Los Angeles is the safest big city in American to not be charged with a felony. Chappelle fortunately was not injured in the May 3 incident, despite the fact that Lee possessed a fake gun with a switchblade not used in the incident.
Will Smith was not charged by Gascon for slapping Chris rock on the Oscar’s state March 28, knowing his behavior was, by anyone’s definition, an “assault-and-battery,” requiring a felony charge. Smith went on to collect his Best Actor award, minutes after he assaulted Rock. Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences banned Smith for 10 years April 8, but only after Smith resigned his membership April 3. So Gascon did nothing to mete out appropriate justice for Smith. “Ten thousand people saw Dave Chappelle assaulted on stage at the Hollywood Bowl last night, and the assailant had a deadly weapon on him. The fact that this isn’t charged as a felony case by the DA is insane,” Colwell said, partner at Squire Patton Boggs. Whatever mental illness Lee has, it shouldn’t be second guessed in a charging decision by Gascon’s office, something best left to the judge or jury.
Lee’s public defender Chelsea Padilla said Lee pleaded not guilty at a May 6 hearing, prompting Gascon to send the case to the City Attorney for a lesser charge. Padilla said her client did not assault Chappelle with a deadly weapon, even though he had one with the switchblade fake gun, he had in a pouch elsewhere on stage. Gascon said he declined to charge Lee with a felony because he possessed no weapon at the time of the assault. Whether or not Lee possessed the deadly weapon during his attack of Chappelle, it’s clear he possessed a dangerous weapon. Chappelle’s security team finally got a hold of Lee, roughing him up on stage, naybe breaking his arm and injuring his face before he was taken by ambulance to a local hospital. Padilla argued to Gascon that Lee had no dangerous weapon in his possession at the time he tackled Chappelle on the Bowl’s stage.
Padilla argued to Gascon that Lee had no history of violence, despite having a known mental health condition. Padilla said her client suffered a “broken arm and significant facial injuries.” Padilla said that a “video has been released of about 12 people stomping Lee while he was on stage,” suggesting that her client was abused by the crowd after tackling Chappelle. Padilla claimed that her client had a “mental health condition” and received “mental health treatment,” raising the issue whether or not that constitutes mitigating factor. To Gascon, the fact that Lee didn’t brandish the weapon during the scuffle with Chappelle and happened to have a mental health condition provided enough mitigation to hand the case off to the City Attorney. Gascon’s reasoning defies common sense, since there are plenty of violent incidents without dangerous weapons charged as felonies.
Los Angeles County under Gascon has become a safe haven for criminals, especially those involved in smash-and-grab robberies, not charged with felonies, leaving retailers vulnerable to ongoing crimes. When it came to Will Smith, Gascon could get a pass since the Los Angeles Police Department failed to charge the actor with assault. But when it comes to a performer in a major venue like the Hollywood Bowl blindsided by a mentally ill homeless man, Gascon proved why his recall effort should succeed in ending his tenure as Los Angeles DA. Chappelle had every right to expect Gascon to charge Lee with a felony whether he was injured or whether his lethal weapon was used in the incident. Whether Lee was mentally ill, homeless or in line for long-term housing are not mitigating circumstance for Gascon to decline to charge. Attacking anyone on stage should be an automatic felony.
