But Judge Joyce A. Karlin said the news media, District Attorney Ira Reiner and other public officials bear some responsibility for inflaming racial passions by the way they have protrayed the killing last year of 15-year-old Latasha Harlins by Soon Ja Du. Reference: The Associated Press permissions However, Judge Joyce Karlin awarded her quite a simple sentence: a $500 fine, 400 hours of community service, and 5 years of probation with no jail time. Joyce Karlin. shopkeeper also continued to insist that Harlins had repeatedly threatened to from ASAM 2 at University of California, Santa Barbara In 1992, protesters demonstrated outside the home of Superior Court Judge Joyce Karlin, calling for her ouster after she sentenced a South Los Angeles grocery store owner to … https://www.blackpast.org/african-american-history/harlins-latasha-1975-1991 A week later, a jury in Simi Valley acquitted the four officers accused of beating King, igniting six days of rioting that left 63 people dead, nearly 2,400 injured, 12,000 arrested and more than $1 billion in proerty damage. Join Facebook to connect with Joyce Karlin and others you may know. I think that it was." Latasha Harlins died clutching $2 that she had planned to use to buy some juice. White Judge Joyce Karlin, however, gave Du probation, 400 hours of community service, and a $500 fine. Absolutely. How come she can she just die for one bottle of juice?" Joyce Ann Karlin was born on January 5, 1951, in Caracas, Venezuela. View the profiles of people named Joyce Karlin. Harlins turned to walk away when Du took out a gun and fired. Still to this day, it's devastating for our family," Christine Harlins, her sister, said. While Latasha's death was a pivotal moment leading up to the 1992 Los Angeles riots, the public never got to … Joyce Karlin has retired from her position as Judge claiming she "wants to spend more time with her family", but we all know the real reason. Karlin's great-grandfather had been a tailor; her father worked as a film studio executive. And it still hurts," Ruth Harlins, her grandmother, said. Instead, Judge Joyce Karlin, a Jewish woman, sentenced her to five years probation, community service, and a $500 fine. She faces three opponents in what could be a tight race because of attention from the Du case. "I don't have a granddaughter. But was that reaction understandable? It was March 1991 when Harlins had put a bottle of orange juice in her backpack in a store owned by a Korea-born shopkeeper at 92nd and Figueroa Streets. Reiner, who unsuccessfully appealed the verdict, was out of his office Wednesday and unavailable for comment, a spokesman said. The jury found Du guilty of voluntary manslaughter and recommended the maximum prison sentence of 16 years. The case drew criticism after another LA County court case of cruelty to a dog was given a harsher sentence than the death of a teen. The court recommendation is that Du should receive the maximum sentence of 16 years in prison. "We got all this racism, hate going on. The shopkeeper, Soon Ja Du, accused Harlins of trying to steal the juice before a scuffle broke out between the two. Judge Joyce Karlin states that Mrs. Du was the victim, Latasha is the criminal and would be standing in front of her for assault on a store clerk had she not died. Instead, she gives her probation and makes her pay Latasha Harlins medical/funeral expenses and gives her community service. Judge Karlin suggested that there were mitigating circumstances. While the jury recommended a sentence of 16 years, the trial judge, Joyce Karlin, sentenced Du to five years of probation, 400 hours of community service, and a $500 fine. https://newsroom.ucla.edu/releases/new-book-by-ucla-historian-traces-247266 Du was released. Wahneema Lubiano, 1997, Random House. She will have to live with this every day for the rest of her life.” The presiding judge, Joyce Karlin reduced the sentence to probation of 5 years, 400 hours of community service, and a $500.00 fine.