News

New district attorney under fire for controversial plea deal

Price stands by agreement to reduce three murder charges to one manslaughter count

Families of victims slain in Oakland are saying new Alameda County District Attorney Pamela Price is not listening to them and needs to be recalled for being too soft on crime.

Alameda County District Attorney Pamela Price. (Contributed photo)

The statements came following what critics describe as a lenient plea deal announced last week regarding Delonzo Logwood, 32, who was previously charged with allegedly killing three people in 2008.

Under the plea deal, Logwood pleaded no contest to voluntary manslaughter and personal use of a gun. The charges for allegedly killing the two others were dropped.

Logwood was just 18 then and is very sorry for his behavior, according to a statement Friday by Price. The judge was not convinced that Logwood was remorseful, in what Price described as "critical comments from the bench."

Logwood has been incarcerated since 2009. He has been in Santa Rita Jail since 2015.

Help sustain the local news you depend on.

Your contribution matters. Become a member today.

Join

"Given the state of the evidence and the age of the cases, our office concluded it was in the interests of justice to resolve the prosecution of Mr. Logwood with a plea to multiple crimes in connection with the murder of Eric Ford," Price said in a statement released Friday.

But Brenda Grisham said the families of the victims need to have a say in how long a criminal goes to prison. Grisham lost her son Christopher Jones to violence in Oakland in 2010.

Following her son's death, Grisham started the Christopher Lavelle Jones Foundation and Their Lives Matter, both to honor the memory of Jones.

"The families are watching very closely," Grisham said. "They should be a little important to somebody."

Grisham said Price is out of touch with victims' families. No one is going to speak for her son but her, she said.

Stay informed

Get daily headlines sent straight to your inbox in our Express newsletter.

Stay informed

Get daily headlines sent straight to your inbox in our Express newsletter.

Logwood will continue to be incarcerated for years under the plea deal with Alameda County prosecutors, Price said.

"The Logwood case is a difficult case by any measure," she said.

Logwood was allegedly part of the Ghost Town gang, a subset of the P-Team gang, according to testimony in 2018 by Oakland police Acting Capt. Tony Jones.

Jones was testifying as a gang expert in a preliminary hearing for Logwood and a co-defendant accused of five fatal shootings in 45 days in Oakland in the summer of 2008.

That year, 125 people were slain in the city and a disproportionate number of them were Black, according to a report by the Urban Strategies Council, which aims to eliminate persistent poverty in the Bay Area.

"She needs to be recalled," Grisham said of Price. Everyone in Grisham's circle and others agree with that, Grisham alleges. "This is life and death," she added.

Price has defended her stance on violence and its effects on communities.

"The level of violent assaults that injured and took the lives of so many young Black men in the summer of 2008 was not acceptable then, and it is not acceptable today," she said. "Our mission in the here and now is to stop violence in our community."

Price said these old cases have created pressure and trauma for survivors, defendants and their families, the court system and Price's staff. She said everyone responsible for administering justice in Alameda County must do better.

Defense lawyer Linda Fullerton declined to speak about the case until after the sentencing, which is scheduled for March 23. Logwood remains in Santa Rita Jail. He's being held without bail.

Price did not respond Tuesday evening to a request for comment.

A front row seat to local high school sports.

Check out our new newsletter, the Playbook.

Looking for more Livermore stories? The Livermore Vine will be your new source of vital news and information. Sign up to be among the first to get our daily local news headlines sent to your inbox for free.

Follow PleasantonWeekly.com and the Pleasanton Weekly on Twitter @pleasantonnews, Facebook and on Instagram @pleasantonweekly for breaking news, local events, photos, videos and more.

Get uninterrupted access to important local crime news. Become a member today.

New district attorney under fire for controversial plea deal

Price stands by agreement to reduce three murder charges to one manslaughter count

by Keith Burbank / Bay City News Service

Uploaded: Wed, Feb 15, 2023, 9:00 pm

Families of victims slain in Oakland are saying new Alameda County District Attorney Pamela Price is not listening to them and needs to be recalled for being too soft on crime.

The statements came following what critics describe as a lenient plea deal announced last week regarding Delonzo Logwood, 32, who was previously charged with allegedly killing three people in 2008.

Under the plea deal, Logwood pleaded no contest to voluntary manslaughter and personal use of a gun. The charges for allegedly killing the two others were dropped.

Logwood was just 18 then and is very sorry for his behavior, according to a statement Friday by Price. The judge was not convinced that Logwood was remorseful, in what Price described as "critical comments from the bench."

Logwood has been incarcerated since 2009. He has been in Santa Rita Jail since 2015.

"Given the state of the evidence and the age of the cases, our office concluded it was in the interests of justice to resolve the prosecution of Mr. Logwood with a plea to multiple crimes in connection with the murder of Eric Ford," Price said in a statement released Friday.

But Brenda Grisham said the families of the victims need to have a say in how long a criminal goes to prison. Grisham lost her son Christopher Jones to violence in Oakland in 2010.

Following her son's death, Grisham started the Christopher Lavelle Jones Foundation and Their Lives Matter, both to honor the memory of Jones.

"The families are watching very closely," Grisham said. "They should be a little important to somebody."

Grisham said Price is out of touch with victims' families. No one is going to speak for her son but her, she said.

Logwood will continue to be incarcerated for years under the plea deal with Alameda County prosecutors, Price said.

"The Logwood case is a difficult case by any measure," she said.

Logwood was allegedly part of the Ghost Town gang, a subset of the P-Team gang, according to testimony in 2018 by Oakland police Acting Capt. Tony Jones.

Jones was testifying as a gang expert in a preliminary hearing for Logwood and a co-defendant accused of five fatal shootings in 45 days in Oakland in the summer of 2008.

That year, 125 people were slain in the city and a disproportionate number of them were Black, according to a report by the Urban Strategies Council, which aims to eliminate persistent poverty in the Bay Area.

"She needs to be recalled," Grisham said of Price. Everyone in Grisham's circle and others agree with that, Grisham alleges. "This is life and death," she added.

Price has defended her stance on violence and its effects on communities.

"The level of violent assaults that injured and took the lives of so many young Black men in the summer of 2008 was not acceptable then, and it is not acceptable today," she said. "Our mission in the here and now is to stop violence in our community."

Price said these old cases have created pressure and trauma for survivors, defendants and their families, the court system and Price's staff. She said everyone responsible for administering justice in Alameda County must do better.

Defense lawyer Linda Fullerton declined to speak about the case until after the sentencing, which is scheduled for March 23. Logwood remains in Santa Rita Jail. He's being held without bail.

Price did not respond Tuesday evening to a request for comment.

Comments

Guy Reger
Registered user
Pleasanton Valley
on Feb 16, 2023 at 10:28 am
Guy Reger, Pleasanton Valley
Registered user
on Feb 16, 2023 at 10:28 am

Here we go folks, this will be the same as LA and San Francisco with not charging criminal with the crimes committed. Hold on tight!


Joe V
Registered user
Birdland
on Feb 16, 2023 at 12:12 pm
Joe V, Birdland
Registered user
on Feb 16, 2023 at 12:12 pm

The District Attorney is in charge of prosecuting criminals, not defending them.
The defense lawyer for Logwood, Linda Fullerton, was left speechless after the plea deal, Pamela Price to care of all legal matters defending her client.


Brian Lawton
Registered user
another community
on Feb 18, 2023 at 6:54 am
Brian Lawton, another community
Registered user
on Feb 18, 2023 at 6:54 am

Where is the world heading?


Don't miss out on the discussion!
Sign up to be notified of new comments on this topic.

Post a comment

Sorry, but further commenting on this topic has been closed.