Shirakawa Should Go to Jail for Malicious Campaign Mailer
The mailer wasn’t just about Campos’ opponent, Magdalena Carrasco. It purported to be from her, which makes it a serious crime. By portraying her as a communist, it successfully alienated Vietnamese voters. A strikingly similar hit piece was used against Shirakawa’s opponent several years earlier in his first campaign for the supervisor seat.
At pretrial proceedings last week, Shirakawa decided to plead no contest to false impersonation, perhaps because it became clear that Campos could be compelled to testify at a trial. Campos had taken the Fifth Amendment during grand jury proceedings and intended to continue exercising his right to avoid self-incrimination, but prosecutors said they would offer him immunity, giving him no legal excuse to stay mum. They clearly had hoped to elicit the names of Shirakawa’s co-conspirators, and Campos and his sister, Assemblywoman Nora Campos, obviously are persons of interest. Among other things, the grand jury looked at a $5,000 check that Nora Campos gave Shirakawa about the time of the mailer.
Rosen likely would be happy with a plea deal that disclosed accomplices. It would place Shirakawa on the side of the public interest, and the reward of a light sentence would be appropriate.