For years, Los Angeles County residents have been sold the illusion that District Attorney George Gascón is fearlessly championing reform, rooting out misconduct, and holding law enforcement accountable. But as The Current Report has meticulously documented, the truth is far more cynical: the DA’s office has twisted the Watson rule, a safeguard originally designed to protect defendants from tainted evidence, into a political instrument used to project selective outrage while avoiding real accountability.

In my latest analysis for The Current Report, I break down how the Watson rule’s intended purpose has been flipped on its head. Instead of applying the rule when genuine misconduct threatens the integrity of a case, Gascón’s administration invokes it inconsistently, strategically, and almost theatrically. The unmistakable pattern reveals itself quickly: when a case reinforces the DA’s carefully curated reform narrative, the Watson rule becomes a loud public declaration. When a case exposes his own office’s failures or contradicts his political messaging, the rule suddenly evaporates into silence.

This selective enforcement exposes Gascón’s unmistakable bias. His office performs reform rather than practicing it. The rhetoric of fairness is amplified for the cameras, while the mechanics of fairness, consistent application of constitutional protections—are quietly abandoned. In some instances, defendants face weaponized charging decisions designed to bolster Gascón’s political persona; in others, valid claims of bias or suppressed evidence are ignored because they don’t fit the storyline.

The Current Report lays out how this calculated inconsistency distorts the justice system, bending legal standards into tools of branding and political maneuvering. The Watson rule becomes less about safeguarding constitutional rights and more about safeguarding the DA’s image. It’s prosecutorial theater masquerading as progress.

By exposing these patterns, The Current Report underscores a stark truth: when a district attorney applies constitutional safeguards selectively, justice is no longer blind. Under Gascón, the Watson rule, once a vital protection for defendants, has been reduced to a prop in a performance designed to mask institutional dysfunction and uphold a manufactured narrative of reform.