DA's Office Petitions Calif. High Court To Halt Release Of Serial Rapist

LOS ANGELES (CBSLA.com) — The Los Angeles County district attorney's office will ask the California Supreme Court for a new hearing on the conditional release of a serial rapist into Los Angeles County later this year.

Christopher Hubbart admitted to raping and sexually assaulting 38 women throughout California between 1971 and 1982, according to the D.A.'s office.

In May, Santa Clara Judge Gilbert Brown granted Hubbart's request for conditional release from Coalinga State Hospital in Santa Clara County and determined that he should be sent to L.A. County, where he was born and raised.

"I am asking the California Supreme Court to grant us an opportunity to oppose the release of a sexually violent predator into any community – not just ours," said D.A. Jackie Lacey, whose earlier bid to stop Hubbart's release into the county was rejected by an appeals court. "It's my job to safeguard our communities. This man has sexually assaulted nearly 40 women and, in my opinion, continues to pose a significant threat to public safety."

In addition, Lacey has asked the high court to determine that Hubbart's home is Santa Clara County, not L.A. County.

The D.A. contends that although Hubbart was born in L.A. County, he hasn't lived in the area since 1972—with the exception of two months in 1993, when he was paroled to San Bernardino County, but lived in Claremont.

Lacey said Hubbart lived in Santa Clara County in the years leading to his last arrest and no longer has family in L.A. County.

California law requires that a sexually violent predator be conditionally released to the county of his or her domicile "prior to the person's incarceration," said Lacey.

Regardless of the area, Lacey wants to stop the release of Hubbart until the legal issues are resolved.

"This is an important issue that must be addressed," Lacey said. "The people of California deserve to have an advocate dedicated to protecting them all."

Hubbart is scheduled to be released in November.

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