Los Angeles Times - 04.10.2019

LATIMES.COM SS FRIDAY, OCTOBER 4, 2019A

quested anonymity to speak
about Gascon’s plans can-
didly.
If Gascon were to run, his
candidacy would mark the
latest in a series of prog-
ressive challenges to alter
the way criminal justice is
handled in some of the coun-
try’s largest jurisdictions.
The 2017 election of Larry
Krasner as Philadelphia dis-
trict attorney and Tiffany
Caban’s narrow loss this
year against a heavily fa-
vored establishment Demo-
crat in Queens in New York
City energized the move-
ment, but attempts to push
similar change in California
have been less successful.
Liberal donor George
Soros pumped millions of
dollars into the campaigns
of insurgent progressives
seeking to topple top prose-
cutors in Alameda, Sacra-
mento and San Diego coun-
ties last year. Each challeng-
er was thrashed on election
day, losing by margins
exceeding 20 percentage
points.
The deadline for candi-
dates to enter the Los Ange-
les County race is in early
December. Gascon’s last day
in office in San Francisco will
be Oct. 18, according to the
letter, and his chief of staff,
Cristine Soto DeBerry, will
take over as interim district
attorney. First appointed in
2011, Gascon would have fin-
ished his second term at the
end of the year.
Gascon’s interest in re-
turning to Los Angeles,
where he once served in the
highest ranks of the Police
Department, has been an
open secret for months. In
January he announced that
he would not seek a third
term in the Bay Area, and in
the following months he
held several community
meetings in the L.A. area to
discuss criminal justice top-
ics.
A number of social-jus-
tice advocacy groups critical
of Lacey have approached
Gascon and asked him to
enter the race. Last month, a
group of criminal-justice
reform activists formed an
independent expenditure
committee supporting Gas-
con in Los Angeles and pur-

chased a digital billboard on

a stretch of the 10 Freeway

urging him to run.

“If George Gascon runs,

we’ve seen his record in San

Francisco, and while he is

not perfect, he is clear that

he is going to challenge [U.S.

Customs and Immigration

Enforcement]. He is clear

that he is going to be respon-

sive to the needs of people

with mental illness in this

county, and he is clear that

he is going to hold law

enforcement accountable,”

said Patrisse Cullors, state

coordinator for the Real Jus-

tice political action commit-

tee, which has been courting

Gascon.

When asked to comment

about Gascon’s move, Lacey

responded in a statement:

“San Francisco’s District At-

torney has every right to quit

his office and run for another

one, and I welcome him into

the race. I would put our of-

fice’s record up against any

D.A.’s office in the country.”

Gascon would enter a

race already framed around

the concept of providing a

progressive alternative to

Lacey, a career prosecutor

and Los Angeles native who

enjoys broad support

among local law enforce-

ment groups, including the

unions representing rank-

and-file Los Angeles County

sheriff ’s deputies and L.A.

police officers.

Los Angeles County Dep-

uty Dist. Atty. Richard

Ceballos, a hate-crimes

prosecutor being advised by

a political consultant who

helped orchestrate Alex Vil-

lanueva’s shocking victory

in the 2018 sheriff ’s race,

stepped forward in March to

challenge Lacey. Joseph

Iniguez, a line prosecutor

who previously served as a

defense attorney and high-

school teacher, has also en-

tered the race promising to

flank Lacey from the left.

The four would meet in a

March 2020 primary. Unless

one candidate receives more

than 50% of the vote, an un-

likely prospect in a race be-

tween four Democrats in

deep-blue Los Angeles

County, the top two vote-

getters would then face off in

November.

Of Lacey’s potential op-

ponents, Gascon has the

highest national profile. Af-

ter rising through the ranks

of the LAPD, Gascon served

as police chief in Mesa, Ariz.,

and San Francisco before

gaining a reputation as one

of the nation’s most prog-

ressive prosecutors.

In June, he launched a

pilot program aimed at lim-

iting unconscious bias in

charging decisions by re-

moving references to race

and other identifying factors

from cases presented by the

San Francisco Police De-

partment, allowing prose-

cutors to review each case

only “through the lens of the

behavior that is being al-

leged,” he said.

With recreational mari-

juana use now legal in

California, Gascon also

moved to expunge roughly

9,300 marijuana convictions

this year in an attempt to re-

verse the calamitous effects

of cannabis enforcement,

which has repeatedly been

shown to disproportionately

affect minorities.

While Lacey is popular

among law enforcement

groups and politicians —

boasting dozens of endorse-

ments from some of the

state’s most prominent

elected officials including

Democratic Sen. Dianne

Feinstein, U.S. Rep. Adam B.

Schiff (D-Burbank) and Los

Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti

— she has also sought to so-

lidify her progressive bona

fides this year.

Lacey moved to expunge

or dismiss tens of thousands

of marijuana-related convic-

tions in L.A. County less

than two months after Gas-

con launched his initiative in

San Francisco.

On Wednesday, she

joined LAPD Chief Michel

Moore and Los Angeles City

Atty. Mike Feuer to void

nearly 2 million minor cita-

tions that had an outsize

effect on the city’s growing

homeless population, aim-

ing to end a cycle that effec-

tively criminalized home-

lessness by saddling people

with tickets they had no abil-

ity to pay and ensuring they

would land in jail.

Still, Lacey will probably

have to face questions about

her perceived failure to more

aggressively prosecute po-

lice misconduct cases.

Last year, she declined to

prosecute an LAPD officer

who shot and killed an un-

armed homeless man in

Venice despite former Police

Chief Charlie Beck’s public

recommendation for the

officer to be charged with

manslaughter.

In 2017, Lacey was skew-

ered after her office ar-

ranged a plea deal that

spared a city firefighter jail

time for choking a man un-

conscious, prompting one of

the LAPD’s top investiga-

tors to excoriate the decision

in open court.

In recent weeks, she’s

also had to weather contro-

versy surrounding wealthy

Democratic donor Ed Buck.

Lacey declined to prosecute

Buck after a man died of a

drug overdose in his West

Hollywood home in 2017, but

federal prosecutors have

since charged Buck in con-

nection with providing the

drugs that led to the victim’s

death.

Gascon resigns, likely to run in L.A.

[Gascon,from A1]

SAN FRANCISCODist. Atty. George Gascon has become known as one of the nation’s most progressive pros-

ecutors. His interest in returning to L.A., where he served in the LAPD, has been an open secret for months.

Michael MacorSan Francisco Chronicle

mit.
That’s because the DMV
determined that the combi-
nation of Smart Summon
and the cars’ robot systems
doesn’t count as “autono-
mous technology.” The de-
partment’s rationale is the
car is “under the control” of
the person holding the
smartphone.
The new director of the
DMV, Steve Gordon — a
longtime Silicon Valley exe-
cutive — declined to be in-
terviewed for this story.
Some safety officials
worry that Smart Summon
hasn’t been thoroughly
tested and may be marketed
in ways that confuse users.
The National Safety Coun-
cil, a nonprofit health and
safety advocacy group, has
expressed concern about
the rush to deploy full driver-
less technology by Tesla and
other companies.
Kelly Nantel, an NSC vice
president, issued a state-
ment on Smart Summon:
“In introducing any new
advanced safety feature, it is
important for manufactur-
ers to ensure that the feature
is extensively tested and ma-
ture, and that the role of the
driver in controlling the ve-
hicle is crystal clear. Failing
in either of these responsi-
bilities risks creating confu-
sion that can put road users
at risk and reduce public
trust in the potential of auto-
mated vehicles.”
Meanwhile, the National
Highway Traffic Safety Ad-
ministration is aware of
Smart Summon and is in
contact with Tesla. The
agency said in an email it
“will not hesitate to act” if it
finds evidence of a safety-re-
lated defect.
A week after Smart Sum-
mon was issued, no injuries
involving the technology
have been reported, and no
government has barred its
use.
State laws on driverless
cars vary dramatically.
States such as Florida,
Michigan and Arizona are
more permissive than Cali-
fornia, and some states have
no driverless car laws at all.
In California, the only
company that holds a per-
mit for testing autonomous

cars without a human inside

is Waymo, the driverless car

offshoot of Google. Permits

have been granted to 63

companies, including Tesla,

to test autonomous cars

with a human on board.

Smart Summon works

over Wi-Fi and cellphone

networks through Tesla’s

smartphone app, which also

provides remote locking, un-

locking and other features.

Although Smart Summon’s

range is limited to 200 feet,

Tesla on its website promis-

es to add traffic-light and

stop-sign recognition and

automatic driving on city

streets by Dec. 31, but it

hasn’t offered further de-

tails. Tesla did not respond

to requests for comment.

In its marketing materi-

als, Tesla says that with

Smart Summon, “Your

parked car will come find

you anywhere in a parking

lot. Really.” In smaller print,

the company says “the cur-

rently enabled features re-

quire active driver supervi-

sion and do not make the ve-

hicle autonomous.”

When Tesla owners

download the software, they

get a “what’s new” message

on their infotainment screen

telling them they must re-

main responsible for the car

and monitor it at all times.

Minutes after Smart

Summon’s release, user vid-

eos began appearing on

Facebook, Twitter and

YouTube.

Many focus on the wow

factor, showing dogs, kids

and even a Halloween skele-

ton behind the wheel of the

moving car. Some demon-

strate the technology’s

limitations or near

collisions, others show users

blatantly ignoring Tesla’s

warnings.

Several videos show

Smart Summon driving cars

on public roads. Users are

supposed to have the vehicle

always within eyesight, but

at least in some cases, the

feature appears to work

whether they can see the car

or not.

One user posted a video

of himself playing catch-me-

if-you-can by running away

from a Tesla in a parking lot,

while the car struggles to

keep up. Another video

shows a user testing the

technology by directing his

daughter and her dog to

walk in front of an oncoming

Tesla, apparently to see if it

would stop. (It did.)

The novelty of a car driv-

ing by itself was made clear

in a video that shows a man

in a parking lot running

toward a Tesla’s passenger

door, apparently believing it

was a runaway vehicle. “No-

body’s inside,” the man says.

The smartphone holder fills

him in on the situation.

Teslas already came

equipped with Autopilot, a

driver-assist feature that en-

ables the car to steer itself

and pass other vehicles on

highways. For years Auto-

pilot has drawn fire from

critics who point to videos of

people sleeping, eating,

reading or driving in the

back seat. Tesla tells drivers

to pay attention and keep

their hands on the wheel,

but CEO Elon Musk himself

has been shown on YouTube

and national television driv-

ing on Autopilot with his

hands raised.

A car that drives without

someone behind the wheel

raises questions of legal lia-

bility. In some accidents in-

volving Tesla’s Autopilot,

the company has blamed

drivers, saying they didn’t

follow instructions in the

manual. Several lawsuits

have been filed against Tesla

over the Autopilot feature.

Insurance coverage may

be an issue. If a Tesla in

Smart Summon mode hits

another car, or injures a pe-

destrian, will the driver’s in-

surance policy cover the

costs? The Times put that

question to Geico, Farmers,

Nationwide, Progressive,

Hartford, Allstate, SafeAuto

and Travelers. Only Trav-

elers responded, saying it

had no comment.

Asked to explain Smart

Summon’s treatment under

California’s driverless car

rules, DMV spokesman

Marty Greenfield quoted

state regulations that define

“autonomous technology”

as “technology that has the

capability to drive a vehicle

without the active physical

control or monitoring by a

human operator.” Because

Smart Summon is con-

trolled by a smartphone, he

said, it doesn’t count as au-

tonomous.

But that very aspect, the

need for a remote controller,

raises concerns about reli-

ability for one technical ex-

pert working for the insur-

ance industry.

“One must suspect that

the system is not reliably

safe or the need for human

supervision wouldn’t be nec-

essary,” David Zuby, head of

vehicle research for the In-

surance Institute for High-

way Safety, said about

Smart Summon.

“The implied unreliabil-

ity is the ‘troubling’ aspect of

this feature because there’s

already evidence that some

people will not monitor the

vehicle’s progress,” he said.

“If it needs supervision, then

it’s irresponsible to give the

drivers the opportunity to be

remote from the vehicle

when it’s moving.”

Tesla may have more in-

centive to deploy autono-

mous features than other

companies. It’s unprofitable

and has been surviving for 16

years on new rounds of in-

vestor cash. Waymo, owned

by Google’s parent com-

pany, Alphabet Inc., has

plenty of cash and can afford

to take its time. Major au-

tomakers aren’t as flush, but

they are profitable with

tremendous cash flow that

allows for some patience too.

Public officials, mean-

while, may be left playing

catch-up.

“The law is flexible, and a

lot of this comes down to

how does government feel

about these technologies,

and equally important, how

does government feel about

the company behind them,”

said Bryant Walker Smith, a

law professor at the Uni-

versity of South Carolina

and one of the world’s lead-

ing experts on driverless ve-

hicle law.

“If they’re not receptive,

any regulator can find lan-

guage they could use to shut

this down,” he said. “If they

are receptive, then at least

until there’s a crash [compa-

nies] will have a lot of flex-

ibility in terms of what

they’re able to do.”

New feature lets Teslas pick up owners

A TESLAwith Smart Summon can be commanded by its owner via cellphone to

turn itself on, back out of its parking space and drive to his or her location.

Mason TrincaWashington Post/Getty Images

[Tesla,from A1]

TESLAtells Autopilot users to pay attention and keep their hands on the wheel,

but Elon Musk himself has been shown driving on Autopilot with his hands raised.

Hector RetamalAFP/Getty Images