"It's Not Vengeance, It's Justice": The Grim Sleeper Sentenced to Death, August 10, 2016

Name: "It's Not Vengeance, It's Justice": The Grim Sleeper Sentenced to Death, August 10, 2016
Uploaded: 2016-11-17T00:00:00Z
Duration: 1 min 52 s
Description: AP courtroom footage of Judge Kathleen Kennedy telling Lonnie Franklin Jr. that it "doesn't matter why" and sentencing him to death for the Grim Sleeper murders.

AP courtroom footage of Judge Kathleen Kennedy telling Lonnie Franklin Jr. that it "doesn't matter why" and sentencing him to death for the Grim Sleeper murders.

Subject: Lonnie Franklin
Recorded: about August 10, 2016
Runtime: 1:52

Content warning: Concerns the murders of nine women and a teenage girl; no graphic detail.

The Interview

This is not an interview, and Lonnie Franklin Jr. does not speak in it. It is a short piece of Associated Press courtroom footage from August 10, 2016, the day Judge Kathleen Kennedy formally sentenced Franklin to death in Los Angeles County Superior Court. The only voice is the judge's, addressing Franklin directly before she pronounces sentence.

Historical Context

Between 1985 and 2007 nine women and a 15-year-old girl were murdered in South Los Angeles, many of them in a poor area hit hard by the crack epidemic. Community members complained that police did not seriously investigate because the victims were Black and poor. Because there seemed to be a long gap between the killings of the 1980s and those of the 2000s, the unknown killer was called the "Grim Sleeper". Franklin, a former city trash collector and onetime garage attendant for the Los Angeles Police Department, was arrested on July 7, 2010, after a familial DNA search.

Circumstances

A jury convicted Franklin on May 5, 2016, of ten counts of first-degree murder and one count of attempted murder, and on June 6, 2016, returned a death verdict. The formal sentencing on August 10, 2016, followed statements by victims' relatives. Franklin was 63.

What the Recording Covers

Judge Kennedy asks why all of it happened and why he did "all of these things", noting that the women were defenseless and no threat to him. She says that after thinking it over she has concluded "that it doesn't matter why." She tells him she cannot think of anyone she has encountered in her years in the criminal justice system who has committed crimes so monstrous, or so many, and that the sentence is "not vengeance, it's justice." She then denies probation and, for the first-degree murder of Debra Jackson charged in count one, with the special circumstance of multiple murders, sentences him to death, adding the total of the non-death sentences, all consecutive.

What Makes the Recording Significant

It records the legal endpoint of the case: Franklin was never executed and died on death row in 2020, so this pronouncement was the final sentence in the Grim Sleeper prosecution.

Archival Importance

The footage is from the Associated Press's own archive. It pairs with Franklin's 2010 LAPD interrogation, the main recording of him speaking about the accusations, and with the CBS Los Angeles report from the opening of the penalty phase in May 2016.

Important Caveats

Franklin is not heard. The clip is a short excerpt of a long hearing: the relatives' statements and Franklin's own remarks at the hearing are not in it. One phrase in the judge's remarks is unresolved ("as many of them said" or a name), and the figures she gives for the non-death sentence are as transcribed by machine and should be checked against the court record before they are quoted.

Judge Kathleen Kennedy: Why did all of this happen? Why did you do all of these things? All of these women were defenseless. They were not a threat to you in any way, shape, or form. And after thinking about it, pondering it, going over it in my mind, I've come to this conclusion: that it doesn't matter why.

Judge Kathleen Kennedy: I can't think of anyone that I've encountered in all my many years in the criminal justice system that has committed the kind of monstrous, and the number of monstrous, crimes that you have. All of these people have been suffering and will continue to suffer, but hopefully, [unclear: "as many of them said" / "as mayhem said"], they feel they're going to receive some peace, and I hope that you are able to leave here with some peace today. But it's not vengeance, it's justice, Mr. Franklin.

Judge Kathleen Kennedy: And so at this time I will say that the defendant is not eligible for probation, and probation is denied. And so, Lonnie Franklin, Jr., for the first-degree murder of Debra Jackson, as alleged in count one, and the special circumstance of multiple murders, it is the judgment and sentence of this court that you shall suffer the death penalty. The total non-death sentence is life plus 25 years to life plus 14 years, all of that consecutive. [01:38 to 01:52: no speech in Whisper; the captions show only a stray "you" at 01:45. Clip ends.] ---