{"id":2199156,"date":"2024-03-14T14:25:02","date_gmt":"2024-03-14T18:25:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/california-gets-creative-to-charge-fentanyl-dealers-with-murder\/"},"modified":"2024-03-14T14:32:30","modified_gmt":"2024-03-14T18:32:30","slug":"california-gets-creative-to-charge-fentanyl-dealers-with-murder","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/california-gets-creative-to-charge-fentanyl-dealers-with-murder\/","title":{"rendered":"California employs inventive tactics to prosecute fentanyl sellers for homicide"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"&quot;\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">20<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fcalifornia-gets-creative-to-charge-fentanyl-dealers-with-murder%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=2199156&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><h2>California&#8217;s Bold Move Against\u2062 Fentanyl Dealers<\/h2>\n<p>In an unprecedented shift, <strong>California&#8217;s legal forces are aggressively tackling the fentanyl \u2064scourge<\/strong>, going\u200c as far as to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/tom-cotton-war-on-crime-must-begin-with-recalling-removing-every-last-soros-district-attorney\/\" title=\"Tom Cotton: War on Crime Must Begin with Recalling, Removing 'Every Last Soros' District Attorney\">charge drug dealers<\/a> with murder when their actions lead to fatal overdoses.<\/p>\n<h3>Contrasting Approaches in \u200bGolden State Cities and Suburbs<\/h3>\n<p>Historically,\u200d metropolises like <strong>San Francisco, San Diego,\u2062 and Sacramento<\/strong> have favored more lenient policies\u2062 toward drug offenses. In stark contrast, outlying \u200bcounties, \u200cwhere the GOP holds more influence, are \u200bintensifying their crackdown on fentanyl distribution.<\/p>\n<h3>Setting Legal Precedents<\/h3>\n<p>At the forefront of this legal crusade is Riverside County&#8217;s District Attorney Mike Hestrin. With <strong>34 homicide charges against alleged fentanyl suppliers<\/strong> over three years, Hestrin achieved a landmark victory with\u2063 a guilty verdict in a high-profile fentanyl-related murder case, as reported\u2063 by the New\u2062 York Times.<\/p>\n<blockquote>\n<p>    In a notable trial, Vicente David\u200d Romero faced second<a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/gypsy-rose-blanchard-of-national-fame-from-mothers-murder-released-from-prison\/\" title=\"Gypsy Rose Blanchard, known for mother's murder, freed\">-degree \u2064murder charges<\/a> after deliberately selling\u2063 a pill laced with lethal fentanyl\u2064 to 26-year-old Kelsey King, under the guise of it \u200cbeing oxycodone.\n<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>California law doesn&#8217;t directly classify fentanyl-induced deaths \u200das murder, yet state attorneys are leveraging the <strong>Watson murder rule<\/strong>\u2014traditionally applied to drunk driving fatalities\u2014to \u2063hold fentanyl suppliers accountable.<\/p>\n<h3>The Legal Debate Heats Up<\/h3>\n<p>Defense\u2062 attorneys, however, challenge the legal grounds of such murder definitions, questioning their constitutionality given the absence of explicit legislative backing. Michael Duncan, defense lawyer for Romero, points out, &#8220;<em>The authority to define murder lies with the Legislature, not the courts or Mr. Hestrin&#8217;s office<\/em>.&#8221;<\/p>\n<h3>The Ripple Effect of Strict Charges<\/h3>\n<p>While concerns about exacerbating prison overcrowding loom, proponents argue that severe charges are necessary to convey a stern \u2063warning to fentanyl dealers about the weighty consequences of their trade. San Francisco District Attorney Brooke Jenkins, widely considered tougher on crime than her predecessor, asserts that\u2062 holding\u200c fentanyl suppliers\u2063 criminally\u2063 responsible for deaths sends a\u200d clear message: &#8220;<em>We will not tolerate you \u200bpreying on the vulnerable<\/em>.&#8221;<\/p>\n<h3>A Shift \u200bin California&#8217;s Crime Policy<\/h3>\n<p>Driven by voter demand for firmer \u2062action on crime,\u2062 homelessness,\u2062 and \u2062the fentanyl crisis, California&#8217;s crime policy is undergoing a \u200csignificant transformation. State leaders, including centrist Democrats, feel mounting pressure to adopt a stronger stance. This shift \u200bis mirrored in recent moves like Orange County&#8217;s announcement of an <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/nyt-floats-inside-job-conspiracy-after-lee-zeldin-attackers-quick-release\/\" title=\"NYT Floats Inside Job Conspiracy After Lee Zeldin Attacker\u2019s Quick Release\">anti-crime campaign<\/a> to combat rising theft incidents.<\/p>\n<p>Efforts to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/inside-the-abortion-academia-industrial-complex-that-youve-probably-never-heard-of\/\" title=\"Inside The Abortion-Academia Industrial Complex That You\u2019ve Probably Never Heard Of\">raise public awareness<\/a> are also evident, with a poignant billboard featuring the faces of Sacramento&#8217;s fentanyl victims \u2064making a statement over Interstate 5. Fentanyl&#8217;s deadly impact, claiming \u200b6,473 lives in 2022 alone, remains a pressing issue \u2014 and in 2023, the <strong>state&#8217;s National Guard confiscated over\u2062 62,000 pounds<\/strong> \u2063of fentanyl at California&#8217;s \u200cports of entry, signaling an ongoing battle against this lethal drug epidemic.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>California cracks down on the fentanyl epidemic, prosecuting dealers for murder in cases of fatal overdoses. This tough approach contrasts with the traditionally lenient handling of drug offenses in major cities like San Francisco, San Diego, and Sacramento<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2669,"featured_media":2199157,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/wex-s3.s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/01\/opioid-opioid-epidemic-1024x591.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[538],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2199156","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-washington-examiner"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/wex-s3.s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/01\/opioid-opioid-epidemic-1024x591.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2199156","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2669"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2199156"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2199156\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2199157"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2199156"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2199156"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2199156"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}