XPost: la.general, alt.politics.media, rec.arts.tv.comedy.colbert-report   
   XPost: dc.politics   
   From: eric.garcetti.democrat.black.penis.eaters@disney.com   
      
   Despite ample evidence of drug activity and dangerous behavior   
   at Buck’s West Hollywood apartment, local authorities did not   
   lob criminal charges at him until last week   
   By JAMES QUEALLY, RICHARD WINTON, HAILEY BRANSON-POTTS   
   SEP. 30, 2019 6:26 AM   
   After a man was found dead inside the West Hollywood home of   
   Democratic donor Ed Buck in 2017, authorities quickly had reason   
   to believe the case was more complex than a drug overdose.   
      
   Los Angeles County sheriff’s detectives found nearly two grams   
   of methamphetamine, syringes and drug paraphernalia throughout   
   the residence. The dead man, Gemmel Moore, had written diary   
   entries in which he said Buck got him addicted to meth.   
      
   In the weeks that followed, as activists from the black and   
   LGBTQ communities contended that Buck was a dangerous predator,   
   two more men came forward and told investigators Buck had pumped   
   methamphetamine into their bodies against their will, court   
   records show. A West Hollywood councilwoman said she, too, tried   
   to urge the Los Angeles County district attorney’s office to   
   take the stories seriously.   
      
   But Buck was not arrested until this month, when local   
   prosecutors charged him with operating a drug den. Two days   
   later, federal prosecutors accused Buck of providing the drugs   
   that led to Moore’s overdose, charging him in connection with   
   Moore’s death more than a year after the district attorney’s   
   offic declined to do so.   
      
   The new revelations have added to questions about why it took so   
   long to build a case against Buck. Community activists and   
   Moore’s family have been particularly critical of Los Angeles   
   County Dist. Atty. Jackie Lacey for not prosecuting Buck in the   
   wake of the first death and have questioned the efforts of   
   sheriff’s investigators.   
      
   In the time between Moore’s death and Buck’s arrest, a second   
   man died of a drug overdose in his apartment, and authorities   
   say a third nearly died of an overdose before escaping to a gas   
   station and calling 911.   
      
   At least eight other men alleged to authorities that Buck   
   provided them with drugs in exchange for participating in his   
   drug-fueled sexual fetishes. Several claimed Buck injected them   
   while they were sleeping, and two described incidents that   
   amounted to allegations of sexual misconduct.   
      
   In an email, district attorney’s office spokesman Greg Risling   
   said the agency “is legally and ethically required and committed   
   to only bring charges that have sufficient, admissible evidence   
   to convince an objective jury of a defendant’s guilt beyond a   
   reasonable doubt.”   
      
   He declined a Times request for an interview and did not respond   
   to a list of questions about the office’s decision not to charge   
   Buck with lesser drug crimes or whether it had evaluated the   
   sexual misconduct allegations.   
      
   Buck’s attorney, Seymour Amster, declined to discuss the case.   
   The sheriff’s department also declined to comment.   
      
   Evidentiary issues appear to have plagued the original case   
   against Buck. In a document filed when the district attorney’s   
   declined to file charges in 2018, prosecutors listed   
   insufficient evidence and an “inadmissible search and seizure”   
   among the reasons not to prosecute Buck. Law enforcement leaders   
   have never explained what, if any, illegal conduct was committed   
   during the initial search of Buck’s home.   
      
   Lacey has said hearsay rules would have prevented prosecutors   
   from using Moore’s journal against Buck. Legal experts suggested   
   the same might have barred the testimony of his mother, LaTisha   
   Nixon, who said Moore claimed Buck forced him to use meth.   
      
   Court records suggest that local prosecutors who declined to   
   charge Buck in 2018 reviewed the same principal evidence that   
   federal prosecutors did this year, though Risling said the   
   charge connected to Moore’s death that was levied by federal   
   prosecutors does not exist under California law.   
      
   While that is true, experts said Lacey’s office could have   
   considered an involuntary manslaughter charge under state law.   
   The likely explanation is that the federal charge carries a much   
   stiffer penalty, said Laurie Levenson, a Loyola law school   
   professor and former federal prosecutor who reviewed the   
   affidavit filed in support of federal charges.   
      
   Buck would have faced a maximum of four years in prison if   
   convicted of involuntary manslaughter in state court. He would   
   serve a minimum of 20 years in prison if convicted of the   
   federal charge.   
      
      
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