Were Tulsi Gabbard’s attacks on Kamala Harris’ record as a California prosecutor on target?
Harris "blocked evidence that would have freed an innocent man from death row until the courts forced her to do so."
Gabbard’s campaign said she was referring to the case of Kevin Cooper, a black man on death row in California.
We found Gabbard’s statement leaves out some key information.
The New York Times fact-checked Gabbard’s claim about Cooper by explaining that he was "convicted by a jury for a 1983 quadruple murder. Ms. Harris, as attorney general, did not allow new advanced DNA testing in his case, denying Mr. Cooper’s request. After The New York Times wrote about the case, Ms. Harris told Times columnist Nicholas Kristof that "I feel awful about this" and called on the state to allow for such testing."
The Times added that, "While Gov. Gavin Newsom of California has ordered additional DNA testing in the case and a number of legal and judicial experts say that Mr. Cooper was wrongfully convicted, the advanced testing has not yet proved Mr. Cooper’s innocence and allowed him to leave death row."
The senator’s campaign spokesperson told
The Washington Post after the debate that Harris was not directly involved in the decision to deny Cooper’s petition in 2016.
"Senator Harris ran an office of 5,000 people and takes responsibility for all the actions of the [California] Department of Justice during her tenure," the statement said, according to the Post. "Most of the legal activity around this case occurred before her terms in office, but this specific request was made to and decided by lower level attorneys."
Sen. Kamala Harris’ record as a prosecutor in California came under sharp criticism at last night’s Democratic president
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