Prosecutor Jodi Link describes herself as a “good soldier,” quietly obeying District Attorney George Gascon’s controversial policies at a time when her more strident, vocal colleagues publicly criticize him as soft on crime and a tool of the progressive left.

But that was before Link’s 26-year career was derailed in October 2021, when she was removed as second-in-command of the vaunted Sex Crimes Division of the District Attorney’s Office. Now Link has joined the ranks of nearly a half-dozen deputy district attorneys suing Los Angeles County over Gascón’s management style.

Her Labor Code violation lawsuit, filed Thursday in Los Angeles County Superior Court, is nothing like those brought by others, however. Link, a former assistant head deputy, alleges Gascón demoted her not because she disobeyed him. Rather, she maintains, it was because she dutifully followed one of his controversial directives and he became embarrassed when the media seized upon the implications.

Until her transfer, Link supervised more than 20 prosecutors and 30 law clerks specializing in sex crimes. But now she handles garden variety cases such as robberies and gun possession offenses in Torrance.

“I still want to do the best that I can and be a voice for those that don’t have a voice,” Link said in an hourlong interview. “And I do that to the best of my ability, in the cases that I have now, but very far away from the most vulnerable, which are the children, the victims of sexual abuse.”

Link’s demotion is unfathomable, said Joshua Ritter, a former prosecutor now working as a Los Angeles defense attorney.

“Gascón ran on a platform of being a progressive prosecutor, but what he has implemented is like a radical social experiment using the Los Angeles population as guinea pigs,” he said. “I don’t understand why he would retaliate against a prosecutor like her, because she isn’t political.”

Joseph Markus, a former deputy district attorney for 33 years and Link’s attorney, is more blunt in describing the impact of Gascón’s actions.

“Jodi puts her personal feelings aside and she does her job,” he said. “There are other people (in the D.A.’s Office) who didn’t put their personal feelings aside. They have disagreed publicly. If anything, Jodi had been uber-cautious.”

Markus said Gascon’s treatment of the veteran prosecutor has “a chilling effect” on the office. “Don’t expose the absurdity in (Gascón’s) policies to the media … or this is what will happen,” he said.

Alex Bastian, a special adviser to Gascón, declined to comment on the allegations.

Retaliation foreshadowed

Link’s precipitous fall from grace began quietly on Dec. 28 as the hustle-and-bustle of the holiday season was winding down.

She had assigned Deputy District Attorney Michael Matoba to handle a defense motion to reduce the 73-year prison sentence for Scott Breckenridge, 57, who was convicted in 1992 of brutality raping two women in Baldwin Hills and Los Angeles. Breckenridge qualified for a retroactive sentencing review under a state law that took effect in 2015 directing judges to consider the trauma, substance abuse or mental health problems suffered by veterans convicted of crimes.

Link instructed Matoba not to oppose the motion due to Gascón’s directive that prosecutors consider resentencing people who have served more than 15 years in prison.

During a motion hearing, Superior Court Judge Terry A. Bork asked Matoba to prepare a brief outlining how the directive would impact the case, given Breckenridge’s multiple victims and crimes.

Matoba filed the brief on July 7 stating he would not oppose Breckenridge’s resentencing because of Gascón’s belief that, regardless of the number of criminal charges or number of victims, a defendant should not serve more than 15 years behind bars.

In August 2021, the motion caught the attention of ABC7 reporter Julie Sone, who contacted the District Attorney’s Office about the possibility of Breckenridge’s early release.

Media fallout

A month later, Joseph Iniguez, who is Gascón’s chief of staff, sent Link an email stating the Breckenridge case had “garnered some media attention.”

“Can you provide me with background on this case as well as the assigned deputy district attorney’s position on the defendant’s petition for resentencing?” Iniguez asked in the email obtained by the Southern California News Group

Link promptly sent Iniguez a synopsis of the case and attached Matoba’s motion.

About an hour later, Chief Deputy District Attorney Sharon Woo sent an email to Assistant Deputy District Attorney Victoria Adams and Maria Ramirez, who at the time was director of specialized prosecutions and is currently suing Gascón for demoting her. Woo said she found Matoba’s motion troubling because it misstated Gascon’s resentencing policy directive, though she did not explain how.

A short time later, Link was soon summoned to a meeting on the 12th floor at the Hall of Justice to discuss the matter with Adams and Ramirez.

Adams indicated Woo was upset by Matoba’s motion, saying Breckenridge’s resentencing should be opposed due to the nature of his crimes, Link recalled. However, Link pushed back, defending Matoba’s brief as accurate and telling Adams it was “written in the spirit” of the directive.

“It was important for me that the chain of command knew that Michael Matoba, under my supervision, was doing in a good faith belief what the policy meant,” she said. “I was literally a very long-standing supervisor saying that I don’t want anything to happen to him.”

Obeying orders

Link added that Adams ordered her to have Matoba withdraw his motion and file a new one, stating he had misunderstood Gascón’s directive and now opposed resentencing Breckenridge.

“I directed him what to do, and he effectuated that direction,” Link said. “There was no pushback.”

Marcus believes Adams ordered Matoba to fall on his sword and falsely claim he had misunderstood the directive to circumvent an impending media maelstrom.

“When they realize the media’s attention is going to be white hot on them for this policy, they instruct the (deputy) district attorney who wrote points and authorities that are consistent with the policy to go to court and tell the judge that he misrepresented the policy when, in fact, he did not,” he said.

Matoba filed a new brief and Bork denied the resentencing request.

The following day, ABC7 published a story with a headline that blared: “Convicted rapist Scott Breckenridge denied early release after DA shifts original position.”

The story apparently humiliated Gascón, who decided to take his frustration out on Link and Matoba, Markus said.

“It’s viewed as nefarious and embarrassing to him because of the media attention,” he added. “Nobody’s acting nefarious. What’s even more critical about that is the policy was relatively new. You’ve got lawyers and people in the office trying to apply the policy.”

Swift demotion

The day after the ABC7 story was published, Adams phoned Link at home and patched Iniguez in.

“After a very quick and abrupt call, they said they were making management changes and that I was being removed from management,” Link said. “For the first time in my life, I was absolutely speechless.”

Two weeks later, Link began her new duties as a calendar deputy in the Torrance branch office.

She filed an internal grievance challenging her demotion, but the move was upheld by the District Attorney’s Office. During a hearing to address the complaint, Woo said Link was transferred so others could have opportunities as a supervisor, Markus said.

The blow to Link’s unblemished legal career has been severe, according to Markus.

She likely will never become a head deputy and, despite being a renowned sex crimes expert, is prohibited from training other prosecutors and law enforcement agencies throughout the state.

“Sex crimes is an intense specialty,” Markus said. “To be candid, most prosecutors do it for a short period of time. It is so complicated and sophisticated that it requires a high degree of expertise. You would not move her if a bomb went off because she knows her stuff backwards and forwards.”

Retaliation condemned

Link’s demotion has received swift condemnation from the law enforcement community as well as prosecutors and defense attorneys.

Cmdr. John Satterfield, chief of staff for Los Angeles County Sheriff Alex Villanueva, said Link has trained thousands of deputies and police officers, often holding mock trials at the crack of dawn to sharpen their court testimony skills.

“She was phenomenal in her ability to convey subject matter and made our department better,” he added. “She did it because the community deserved it. She is very selfless.”

Eric Siddall, vice president of the Association of Deputy District Attorneys representing about 800 Los Angeles County prosecutors, called Link’s demotion unconscionable.

“Jodi Link has spent the last 26 years protecting the people of Los Angeles County,” Siddall said. “She is a true public servant. Not only a seasoned trial attorney, she has trained generations of law enforcement and state and federal prosecutors on how to investigate and prosecute the most serious sexual and domestic violence offenses.

“Retaliating against Ms. Link is a prime example of Gascón’s anti-labor animus and his total disregard for competent and responsible experience.”

Meanwhile, Link said she is trying to make the best out a devastating situation and would love nothing more than to get her old job back.

“It’s been very trying,” she said. “I’ve dedicated half my life to this office. It’s demoralizing and incredibly shameful to me.”