Lead prosecutor in Hannah Tubbs case Shea Sanna says George Gascón wants him fired

The Los Angeles County deputy district attorney suspended this week believes he’s being unjustly disciplined after speaking out against woke District Attorney George Gascón’s decision to try a trans woman convicted of child molestation as a juvenile.

Shea Sanna, 34, who was the lead attorney on the highly publicized case that ended with Hannah Tubbs, 26, getting two years in a youth treatment facility, told The Post Friday that his five-day suspension appears to be retribution for comments he made about the convicted child molester.

“It is my opinion that they are trying to terminate me by building up disciplinary actions against me,” Sanna said. “But my employment record shows no disciplinary action over the course of five years. So they are creating a paper trail to terminate me.” 

“I spoke out that Tubbs should be tried as an adult,” said Sanna, concerning Tubbs’ sexual assault of a 10-year-old girl.

Tubbs, who was 17 at the time of the crime, was charged as a juvenile and may end up in a female juvenile detention center because she began identifying as a female after the arrest — much to the dismay of Sanna.

“I don’t want a grown, male, violent sexual offender going into a female juvenile facility,” said Sanna. “Tubbs has an extensive rap sheet and is a career criminal. They’re putting a predator in with the prey. They justify this because he committed his sexual assault crime two weeks before his 18th birthday.

“He was on the run for seven or eight years. Since being caught, he admitted to committing the crime. Gascón has a blanket policy that prevented us from trying him as an adult.”

Sanna told The Post that he has been suspended on trumped-up claims. “To justify the suspension, they said that I misgendered Tubbs in a Zoom meeting,” said Senna. “But I did not speak in that meeting.”

Additionally, he said, there is an issue related to a social media post.

“I called him James Tubbs in a Twitter post and they said it was ‘dead-naming’ – even though he is James [Hannah’s male birth name] in every document outside of our case.

“I wrote that he was gaming the system and was insincere about being transgender. My attorney explained that I was pointing out an issue, and that was used as a basis for my punishment.”

Tiffiny Blacknell, director of communications for the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s office, told The Post, “While we cannot comment on the specifics of a personnel matter, I can say that the actions taken by the Department were the result of the findings conducted by an independent County Policy of Equity Investigation.  

“I can also say that the transgender community is frequently the target of violent attacks. They are also reluctant to come forward and report their attacks because of how they’re treated in the criminal legal system.”

Though Tubbs had been sentenced to a youth treatment facility, she is currently being held in neighboring Kern County, awaiting trial for a murder that she allegedly committed as an adult.

“If he is found guilty of that murder, he will go to an adult prison,” said Sanna. “If he is found not guilty, as it stands now, he will go to a juvenile facility for the sexual assault charges.”

Sanna fears that the suspension is just the beginning of a concerted campaign against him by the DA’s office.

“Other investigations against me are pending,” he Sanna. “It’s about speaking to the press and making political statements. They are on a fishing expedition. I think they are all false charges being used to get rid of me. I’m going to go public with what is being done. If legal action is required, I will take those steps.”

As Sanna sees it, this issue goes beyond his particular case and is reflective of the District Attorney’s office as a whole.

“The DA’s office is supposed to be a government organization that represents the people,” Sanna said. “But prosecutors are being silenced, and that violates our duty, as prosecutors, to the people.”

As to what things look like going forward, Sanna said that he plans on doing his best to serve the people of Los Angeles County.

“I go back on Wednesday and will probably feel awkward,” he told The Post. “I’ll feel like I have a microscope on me. I love my job. So I am happy to go back. But, believe me, I am not happy to have been suspended.”