Los Angeles Times - 05.03.2020

CALIFORNIA

THURSDAY, MARCH 5, 2020:: LATIMES.COM/CALIFORNIA

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■■■ ELECTION 2020 ■■■

It was shortly after noon
on Christmas Eve in 2000
when a dispatcher in Los
Angeles received the call:
Dogs were barking outside a
home along busy Benedict
Canyon Drive. The tenant’s
Isuzu was in the driveway,
but the back door was wide
open and the woman who
lived there alone was not an-
swering her phone.
“This case started off like
many cases do, with a very
innocuous call,” said Deputy
Dist. Atty. John Lewin dur-
ing the long-awaited open-
ing statements in the mur-
der trial of Robert Durst.
Police arrived and en-
tered the shabby bungalow
to find writer Susan Berman
dead on the hardwood floor,
a pool of blood around her
head. Lewin showed jurors
photos of the scene, noting
there was no apparent rob-
bery or burglary. The win-
dows were locked. The doors
showed no sign of forced en-
try. Nothing was out of place.
Berman’s purse, wallet in-
side, was on the counter.
“The evidence is going to
show, without question, that
Susan knew her killer,”
Lewin said. Berman, daugh-
ter of mobster David Ber-
man, was not given to wel-
coming strangers. “She let
her killer into the house, and
she turned her back to him.”
Berman was killed with a
gunshot to the head.
“Thankfully, she didn’t see it
coming,” Lewin said.
Berman was Durst’s
close friend and confidant
dating back to their days to-
gether at UCLA, and nearly
20 years after her body was
found, Durst is on trial for
her killing.
The eccentric million-
aire, now 76, was charged in
2015 when the HBO docu-
series “The Jinx: The Life
and Deaths of Robert Durst”
catapulted him to wider no-
toriety by exploring his wife’s
1982 disappearance, Ber-
man’s death and Durst’s ac-
quittal in 2003 on a murder
charge in Galveston, Texas.
Los Angeles police arrested
him in connection with
Berman’s death on the eve of
the finale of “The Jinx,” call-
ing him a flight risk, and
Durst has been in custody
since.
On Wednesday, Lewin
began laying out evidence he
said would prove Durst
killed Berman — testimony
[SeeDurst,B7]

Durst

murder

trial gets

rolling

Subject of ‘The Jinx’

is in court in friend’s

killing after years of

legal wrangling.

By Matt Hamilton

Host of ‘Actors

Studio’ dies

James Lipton, the

hyperbolic and

enthusiastic drama

dean, was 93. B

Virus’ DNA

detectives

Genetic analysis

allows scientists to

track diseases and

their spread. B

Baby sea bass

begin life in wild

Nearly 200 of the

imperiled fish are

released into Santa

Monica Bay. B

Lottery......................B

Richard ShotwellAP

Bespectacled, lanky, with

an impressive ponytail and a

Van Dyke beard, 35-year-old

Joesé Hernandez is a reason

why Bernie Sanders won

California’s Democratic pre-

sidential primary.

He has spent most of his

adult life in el movimiento,

throwing himself into causes

like citizenship classes and

district elections in Ana-

heim. He hosts an online ra-

dio show and used to serve

as an emcee for Santa Ana’s

Day of the Dead festivities.

In 2016, the Santa Ana

resident volunteered for the

Vermont senator’s 2016 cam-

paign — his first foray into

electoral politics. Hernan-

dez gamely tried to get the

city’s overwhelmingly Lat-

ino electorate to side with

Sanders, an East Coast sep-

tuagenarian whom few of

those voters had ever heard

of and who seemed to have

no explicit plan to court vot-

ers of color.

That perception sank

Sanders statewide: He lost

the 2016 primary to Hillary

Clinton, 53% to 46%, and by

an even larger gap among

Latinos.

JOESÉ HERNANDEZ,a longtime activist in Santa Ana, volunteered for Bernie Sanders in 2016, only to

see the candidate lose in the primary. This time, the campaign hired Hernandez, shown on Tuesday.

Allen J. SchabenLos Angeles Times

Latino grass roots help

lift Sanders to victory

Campaign tapped community organizers to reverse 2016 loss

By Gustavo Arellano

[SeeSanders,B6]

SANDERS, shown with wife Jane in L.A. this

week, was “Tío Bernie” to many Latino voters.

Dania MaxwellLos Angeles Times

For months, criminal jus-

tice reform advocates in

Southern California hoped a

national wave of victories by

progressive candidates in

district attorney’s races

might crest in Los Angeles

and knock over Jackie Lac-

ey.

Locked in a tough pri-

mary against opponents

who were either well-funded

or had strong ground games,

Lacey seemed to be strug-

gling to the finish line. She

bailed on a number of candi-

date forums and limited

public appearances after

protesters disrupted a Janu-

ary debate. Then a scary

confrontation at her home

on the eve of the election

ended with her husband

pointing a gun at Black

Lives Matter demon-

strators.

But Lacey made a strong

showing in early returns,

jumping out to a significant

lead over former San Fran-

cisco Dist. Atty. George

Gascón and former public

defender Rachel Rossi. Her

share of the vote has since

slipped closer to 50%, indi-

cating she could still have to

face a November runoff. But

political observers said the

returns showed Lacey’s en-

trenched law enforcement

support and experience

could still serve as a bulwark

against Gascón’s or Rossi’s

idealistic and policy-heavy

approaches in November.

“There was a lot of hype

around Gascón, but it’s on

Twitter and it’s among the

activist class,” said Brian

VanRiper, a consultant who

has worked on a number of

L.A. City Council races. “Did

ANALYSIS

Runoff

looms

in tight

race

for D.A.

Lacey could still

avoid a November

contest and claim

a third term, but her

lead is narrowing.

By James Queally

[SeeD.A.,B5]

They didn’t have the

campaign cash or the big-

name endorsements of their

rivals. Neither had been

elected to public office.

But a pair of upstart can-

didates — nonprofit leader

Nithya Raman and attorney

Grace Yoo — could end up

forcing their more estab-

lished opponents into runoff

elections in November, even

as other political heavy-

weights were cruising to

victory.

County election officials

are still counting ballots.

But if the numbers hold, Ra-

man will face off against Los

Angeles City Councilman

David Ryu in a council dis-

trict that stretches from

Sherman Oaks to Silver

Lake. Yoo could go head-to-

head with longtime county

Supervisor Mark Ridley-

Thomas, an elected official

for three decades, to repre-

sent a Crenshaw-to-Korea-

town council district.

In L.A. council races, if no

candidate wins the majority

of the vote, the top two fin-

ishers compete against each

other in a November runoff.

Because L.A.’s municipal

election now coincides with

the presidential race, the

campaign would be unlike

any runoff seen before at

City Hall, lasting eight

months — more than three

times longer than previous

L.A. runoffs.

Two council underdogs may have a shot

GRACE YOOwas trailing longtime L.A. political figure Mark Ridley-Thomas

in the 10th Council District, but as of Wednesday he did not have a majority.

Wally SkalijLos Angeles Times

Nithya Raman and

Grace Yoo are poised

to force well-known

rivals into runoffs.

By Emily Alpert Reyes

and David Zahniser

[SeeCouncil,B5]

Jennifer Siebel

Newsom, the

wife of Gov.

Gavin New-

som, tells a

family story to

illustrate how

political gender

bias begins in

infancy.

I phoned the first part-

ner because she had en-

dorsed Elizabeth Warren

four days before Super

Tuesday. And I was wonder-

ing whether the Massachu-

setts senator had been the

victim of gender bias in her

quest for the Democratic

presidential nomination.

After all, Warren and

Vermont Sen. Bernie Sand-

CAPITOL JOURNAL

Has sexism hurt Warren’s chances?

ELIZABETH WARREN,with supporters Monday at East L.A. College, trails

fellow progressive Bernie Sanders, but gender bias is just one possible reason.

Robert GauthierLos Angeles Times

GEORGE SKELTON

in sacramento

[SeeSkelton,B6]

MORE COVERAGE

Goldberg appears

to hold on to seat

Little else has been

settled with certainty

in the L.A. Board of Edu-

cation’s contests. B

Why Prop. 13

lacked support

The measure’s unfortu-

nate name and unclear

message led to confusion,

observers say. B