“I’m giving you a chance,” said the judge who gave him probation. “Don’t mess it up.”
lbpost.com
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At a court hearing on June 8, 2023, Superior Court Judge Dwight W. Moore suspended Jake Haro’s 6-year prison sentence and granted probation instead.
“I’m giving you a chance,” said Judge Moore. “Don’t mess it up. Good luck.”
It appeared from his comments at the time that Moore thought the threat of prison for any probation violations would be a deterrent for any further wrongdoing.
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At the 2023 hearing, Deputy District Attorney Sam Taloa took issue with the lenient sentence.
“Your Honor, I would just ask for the record to reflect that the People are objecting to this,” said Taloa. “This is based on the severity of the injuries, as we discussed, to the victim.”
“We have hung a very large hammer over the defendant’s head,” he said, according to a transcript obtained by the Long Beach Post.
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On Wednesday, Judge Moore told the Long Beach Post that ethical rules prevent him from explaining why he granted probation to Jake Haro.
“I’m absolutely precluded from commenting publicly about the case,” said Judge Moore, who acknowledged that the controversy caught him by surprise. “In 18 years, this is the first time I’ve been taken to task in this manner about a decision I’ve made.”
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Judge Moore, who spent 26 years in the San Bernardino County DA’s office before being appointed to the bench in 2007 by then-Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger,
retired from full-time service in 2021 but has continued to handle temporary judicial assignments.
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See article for more.