{"id":71200,"date":"2022-05-06T11:03:49","date_gmt":"2022-05-06T18:03:49","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/idyllwildtowncrier.com\/?p=71200"},"modified":"2022-05-06T11:13:14","modified_gmt":"2022-05-06T18:13:14","slug":"da-michael-hestrin-seeks-third-term","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/idyllwildtowncrier.com\/2022\/05\/06\/da-michael-hestrin-seeks-third-term\/","title":{"rendered":"DA Michael Hestrin seeks third term"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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Riverside County District Attorney Mike Hestrin.\nPhoto courtesy of Hestrin for DA\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Michael Hestrin has been Riverside County\u2019s district attorney since January 2015, and he is seeking another four-year term.
In 2014, he garnered 55% of the vote to defeat his boss, former District Attorney Paul Zellerbach. Four years later, he nearly doubled the votes cast for him and increased his winning percentage to 66% over challenger Lara Gressley, who has decided to repeat the challenge this year.
In one of his early statements, Hestrin said, as district attorney he does and will \u201c\u2026 seek justice on behalf of people of Riverside County. He will protect public safety and keep people safe from criminals and crime.\u201d Consequently, the crime rate in the county has declined 21% in 2021.
His opposition argues that Hestrin\u2019s office often files unnecessary or the most severe charge possible. But he believes that is an integral part of the prosecution\u2019s role in law enforcement. Many cases ultimately result in a plea bargain. The prosecutor does not get the conviction or penalty initially sought and the defendant has pleaded guilty to more and may receive some time in jail.
Both sets of attorneys \u2014 prosecution and defense \u2014 expect to reach an agreement through bargaining.
\u201cWe do engage in negotiation with the defense attorneys,\u201d Hestrin acknowledges. \u201cWe look at the evidence and file everything the case supports. Our standard is whether we have evidence to support a conviction beyond a reasonable doubt and does the attorney believe that.\u201d
With respect to the objections to the use of the death penalty, Hestrin is not defensive.
\u201cWhen you have defendants who have committed the most heinous behavior, I don\u2019t think we overuse the death penalty. In March, we had 15 death penalty cases pending, and that\u2019s not out of line,\u201d Hestrin replied.
Another issue that has drawn fire from his opponents is the contributions his campaign has accepted from law enforcement groups, especially Riverside Sheriff\u2019s Association. Both Gressley and Strunsky believe that is a gross conflict of interest since his office may have to charge and prosecute a deputy.
But Hestrin responds that this logic would ban all contributions to district attorney candidates because there will always be some possibility the donor might come under investigation.
He does agree in criteria for rejecting or refusing a particular donation. \u201cIf you find out the person is a current defendant or under investigation, or committed a crime, I\u2019d return the donation,\u201d he stated.
During his eight years, Hestrin has taken actions to address crime issues from many perspectives. His first step was creating the Gang Impact Task Force. In cooperation with multiple agencies \u2014 federal, state and other local \u2014 the task force has made more than 100 arrests for murder, taken more than 1,000 illegal guns off the streets and seized untold kilos of illegal drugs. This task force is a prime example of the cooperation among law enforcement agencies in Riverside County, Hestrin said with pride.
Other task forces for which Hestrin is responsible are the Child Exploitation Team that has arrested more than 300 child predators; the Riverside Cold Case Unit that has recently solved several old and nearly forgotten crimes; a Crime Prevention Unit to work with at-risk kids; and a homeless program initiated in February.
\u201cThe homeless problem is stubborn and thorny. It\u2019s much more than arresting individuals,\u201d Hestrin said. This partnership will focus on treatment for mental illness, substance abuse and joblessness while trying to transition the individual to a stable environment.
But he does not yet have any current plans for a new task force if reelected.
Also in February, Hestrin made news for his comments about his colleague, Orange County District Attorney Todd Spitzer. Hestrin explained that he rarely ventures into the political environment of another jurisdiction. Since he knew Spitzer and was asked to endorse him for re-election, he agreed. However, when Spitzer\u2019s comments about a black man and white couple were made public, Hestrin said, \u201cI had to rescind my endorsement of Mr. Spitzer.\u201d
In a statement issued at the time, Hestrin\u2019s campaign manager Todd Holmes said, \u201cThe news of the comments and actions of Mr. Spitzer was shocking, disappointing and in the end inexcusable. Regardless of the good work Mr. Spitzer and his office have done in the past, I cannot in good conscience support his future candidacy.\u201d
Riverside County has not been immune from allegations of election fraud after the 2020 presidential election. Hestrin acknowledged his office had received several complaints.
Since the district attorney\u2019s responsibility is to look at potential election fraud, he assigned it to the office\u2019s Bureau of Investigation. After the analysis, he sent a letter to the registrar of voters stating his office did not find any criminal activity associated with the conduct of the election.
When asked about the Hill problems of short-term rentals and fire inspections, Hestrin felt other agencies had a stronger and primary role in the enforcement of these programs.
\u201cI don\u2019t think we have a major role, especially for short-term rentals. Each community must develop its will of the people,\u201d he replied. \u201cI see both sides. Noise and trash are bad, but yet if I own a cabin, I should be able to rent it. It\u2019s a complex issue that is primarily a local political issue.\u201d
Acknowledging Hill resident\u2019s major concern over wildfire, Hestrin said, \u201cIdyllwild is very concerned about the possibility of wildfire. I\u2019m sympathetic with fire departments who are trying to prevent more destruction. But my office focuses more on arson.\u201d
Hestrin is hopeful the June primary will have a similar result to his first two races, where he gained a majority of the votes, precluding a November race.
\u201cHowever, with three candidates I believe it could be a runoff. I\u2019ll be ready for the outcome,\u201d he stated. \u201cI have broad support, which I don\u2019t take for granted. Even if I\u2019m way ahead, I\u2019ll run as though I\u2019m behind. And that\u2019s how I practice law. I take nothing for granted.\u201d
And if reelected, Hestrin promised to continue to use \u201ca common-sense practical approach to criminal policies.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Michael Hestrin has been Riverside County\u2019s district attorney since January 2015, and he is seeking another four-year term.In 2014, he garnered 55% of the vote to defeat his boss, former District Attorney Paul Zellerbach. Four years later, he nearly doubled the votes cast for him and increased his winning percentage to 66% over challenger Lara […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":413736,"featured_media":71201,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"amp_status":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"\nDA Michael Hestrin seeks third term • Idyllwild Town Crier<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/idyllwildtowncrier.com\/2022\/05\/06\/da-michael-hestrin-seeks-third-term\/\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Est. reading time\">\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"4 minutes\">\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/idyllwildtowncrier.com\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/idyllwildtowncrier.com\/\",\"name\":\"Idyllwild Town Crier\",\"description\":\"Almost All the News \\u2014\\u00a0Part of the Time\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":\"https:\/\/idyllwildtowncrier.com\/?s={search_term_string}\",\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/idyllwildtowncrier.com\/2022\/05\/06\/da-michael-hestrin-seeks-third-term\/#primaryimage\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/idyllwildtowncrier.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/05\/hestrin-scaled.jpg\",\"width\":2560,\"height\":1920,\"caption\":\"Riverside County District Attorney Mike Hestrin. Photo courtesy of Hestrin for DA\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/idyllwildtowncrier.com\/2022\/05\/06\/da-michael-hestrin-seeks-third-term\/#webpage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/idyllwildtowncrier.com\/2022\/05\/06\/da-michael-hestrin-seeks-third-term\/\",\"name\":\"DA Michael Hestrin seeks third term • Idyllwild Town Crier\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/idyllwildtowncrier.com\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/idyllwildtowncrier.com\/2022\/05\/06\/da-michael-hestrin-seeks-third-term\/#primaryimage\"},\"datePublished\":\"2022-05-06T18:03:49+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2022-05-06T18:13:14+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/idyllwildtowncrier.com\/#\/schema\/person\/b6bf66f48851e7fb31be0a74eb4d4235\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/idyllwildtowncrier.com\/2022\/05\/06\/da-michael-hestrin-seeks-third-term\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/idyllwildtowncrier.com\/#\/schema\/person\/b6bf66f48851e7fb31be0a74eb4d4235\",\"name\":\"JP Crumrine\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/idyllwildtowncrier.com\/#personlogo\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/4b95f88df96f19377c5a7fa9003bf12d?s=96&d=retro&r=g\",\"caption\":\"JP Crumrine\"}}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/idyllwildtowncrier.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/71200"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/idyllwildtowncrier.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/idyllwildtowncrier.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/idyllwildtowncrier.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/413736"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/idyllwildtowncrier.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=71200"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/idyllwildtowncrier.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/71200\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":71202,"href":"https:\/\/idyllwildtowncrier.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/71200\/revisions\/71202"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/idyllwildtowncrier.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/71201"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/idyllwildtowncrier.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=71200"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/idyllwildtowncrier.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=71200"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/idyllwildtowncrier.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=71200"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}