Alameda District Attorney seeks new sentences for three death row inmates for misconduct and record-shredding allegations

Ernest Dykes, whose appeal of his sentence triggered the review, would be released in June 2025 and would have to serve two years of probation if the court grants his request, Price said. Dykes, 51, was found guilty of killing his Oakland landlord’s 9-year-old grandson and attempting to kill the landlord during a robbery. He was sentenced to death in 1995.

Price has requested that Keith Thomas, 51, be sentenced to 23 years to life in prison. He would be eligible for parole. Thomas was found guilty of participating in the 1992 kidnapping, rape and murder of 25-year-old Francia Young as she walked home from the MacArthur BART station in Oakland. Price said Thomas was 19 when he committed the crimes.

In addition to misconduct in jury selection, prosecutors found during their initial investigation that former Alameda County District Attorney James Anderson used racist imagery and stereotypes in an opening statement at Thomas’ trial. California passed the Racial Justice for All Act in 2021, retroactively making racism by prosecutors and other actors in the justice system illegal. Anderson retired in 2016.

“When prosecutors or courts discriminate in jury selection, our laws are clear that they are violating not only the rights of the accused, but also the rights of victims to a fair trial,” Price said. “They are violating the rights of jurors and community members to participate in our jury system.”

Price struck a serious tone as he acknowledged the impact a re-sentencing can have on the victims’ families.

“I would like to take this moment, on behalf of the Alameda County District Attorney’s Office, to apologize to the surviving family members of Miss Francia Young,” Price said.

Price said her deputies found no misconduct in jury selection in the 1993 death penalty trial of Gregory Tate, who was convicted of killing Sarah LaChapelle. But because of the “sentencing structure” in Tate’s case, she is asking that he be sentenced to life without parole.

Price said the review revealed several missing files. Of the 56 Alameda trials that have resulted in death sentences since 1978, 40 jury selection documents are missing, according to Price. Nancy O’Malley was Alameda County District Attorney from 2009 to 2023. Her predecessor was Tom Orloff.

“This suggests that after the practice of excluding black and Jewish members of our community from the jury was exposed, there may well have been attempts to purge the records,” Price said. “We intend to investigate this, hopefully with the assistance of the California Attorney General’s Office.”

The Prosecutors Alliance of California, a nonprofit organization that advocates for criminal justice reform, welcomed the re-sentencing requests in a statement.

“When prosecutors commit misconduct, they violate their obligation to victims and survivors and undermine the integrity of cases, which endangers public safety and undermines trust in the criminal justice system,” said Cristine Soto DeBerry, executive director of the Prosecutors Alliance.