An Orange County Superior Court judge has overturned the 2017 conviction of Chazz Andre Jackson, a 38-year-old Black man sentenced to 79 years to life in prison for human trafficking, rape, and other felonies, ruling that an Anaheim police detective's racially biased testimony violated California's Racial Justice Act.
Judge Richard King, in a 51-page ruling last month, found that former Lt. Craig Friesen, then-head of the county's human trafficking task force, made inappropriate statements during the trial.
Friesen testified that "pimps are generally Black" and that most people arrested for such crimes were of African-American descent. The judge called the testimony "completely unnecessary" and "a stereotype of racial character evidence presented to the jury, which was not needed in any way to prove guilt."
The Racial Justice Act, enacted in California in 2020, prohibits bias against a defendant based on race, ethnicity, or national origin, and requires only a preponderance of evidence to show bias. King determined that the detective's remarks met that standard.
Jackson was convicted of trafficking a group of women, raping two of them, pimping, and attempting to persuade a witness not to cooperate with authorities. Some victims were minors when they met Jackson.
He was arrested after one victim called her mother while Jackson was away, leading to an Anaheim police response.
Prosecutors plan to retry the case. Kimberly Edds, spokesperson for the Orange County district attorney's office, stated, "The allegations in this case are horrific, and we believe in the strength of the evidence in this case.
We remain resolute in our pursuit of justice for the young women who were victimized."
Anaheim police defended Friesen. Sgt.
Eric Anderson said in a statement, "We respect the court's decision but respectfully disagree on the outcome and any suggestion of motivation in testimony. Our thoughts are with the victims, especially an 18-year-old who was brave enough to seek help amid the fear, abuse and tragedy of human trafficking and exploitation."
Jackson's attorney, Katherine Hallinan, praised the ruling as "huge." She argued, "In this case, they were tying the likelihood of his guilt to his race. His race was referred to over and over and over again."
Hallinan also accused the late trial judge, Steven D. Bromberg, of racial bias during jury selection.
Bromberg told the jury pool, "You see one gentleman, an African-American, he's black. You probably figured he's the defendant.
Yep, he's the defendant." However, Judge King disagreed, ruling that Bromberg's remarks were part of an admonishment that Jackson was innocent until proven guilty, not a violation.
This is the second time this year an Orange County judge has cited the Racial Justice Act in a major case. On June 12, Judge Michael Cassidy reduced the potential sentence for Chilean national Jorge Navarretecorvalan, accused of burglary, after finding that District Attorney Todd Spitzer showed racial bias by using Navarretecorvalan as a "poster child" in a fight against a visa waiver program.
Spitzer vowed to appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court.
Jackson's case highlights ongoing efforts to address racial bias in the criminal justice system under the Racial Justice Act.