Orange County District Attorney Todd Spitzer could soon be at the center of another alleged employee retaliation lawsuit.
It comes after OC Supervisors turned down a $2.5 million settlement offer from one of his former investigators who claims he intentionally botched a high-profile prosecution for political reasons.
Now, one of the investigators on that prosecution, Jennifer Kearns, claims she was pushed out of the office and retaliated against for raising concerns that Spitzer intentionally tanked the case.
The prosecution in question centered on Newport Beach doctor Grant Robicheaux and his girlfriend Cerissa Riley, who were charged with kidnapping and sexually assaulting seven women but ultimately pleaded guilty to a felony gun possession charge and a misdemeanor drug possession charge.
Spitzer played a large role in the case, publicly questioning why it was filed and calling for all charges against Robicheaux and Riley to be dropped before a judge overruled him in 2020 and ordered him to let the state Attorney General’s office prosecute the case instead.
“It would be impossible for the District Attorney’s Office to prosecute this case in an ethical fashion,” said OC Superior Court Judge Gregory W. Jones, adding the office was “hopelessly conflicted.”
[Read: Raising Concerns About OCDA’s Handling of Rape Case, Judge Transfers It to State AG]
Kearns, the lead investigator on the Robicheaux case, claims Spitzer tanked the prosecution to score political points in her lawsuit filed in 2021.
Spitzer declined to comment on Kearns’ lawsuit.
“After his election as DA, Spitzer apparently colluded with the defense while engaging in a concerted political campaign to undermine the prosecution, discredit the victims, and ultimately destroy the criminal case,” Kearns lawyers wrote in their filing.
While Spitzer ended up briefly overseeing the case, it was originally filed less than a month before the November 2018 elections by his opponent, when he was running against then-District Attorney Tony Rackauckas.
Spitzer accused Rackauckas of filing charges before the election to stir up support at the voting booth.
Soon after Spitzer’s win, in July 2019, he began dismantling the prosecution team, according to Kearns’ lawsuit, reassigning lawyers and reviewing the evidence.
“Although Spitzer claimed his subordinates reviewed the case free from any interference or influence from their boss, Spitzer was simultaneously openly expressing contempt for the victims,” Kearns’ lawyers wrote. “Spitzer openly called into question the substantive merits of the case, apparently willing for political gain to overlook the facts.”
In lawsuit documents, Kearns claimed she openly disagreed with Spitzer’s handling of the case, and in January 2020 she was removed from her role as lead investigator altogether before being placed on administrative leave without explanation.
She was then investigated for misconduct at the request of Chief Paul Walters, who heads up the investigative bureau under Spitzer, after the case was transferred to the attorney general, her lawsuit asserts.
“Spitzer caused Plaintiff to be removed from her role as lead investigator on this case, placed on administrative leave, deprived of valuable opportunities to earn overtime compensation while on leave, stripped of her peace officer status, and escorted out under a cloud of suspicion,” Kearns’ lawyers wrote in their filings.
The case is currently scheduled to go to trial next May.
The case is one of over half a dozen cases that were filed against Spitzer when he was running for reelection in 2022 across a host of issues.
Over the past year, the bill showed up for county leaders on two of those cases.
County supervisors paid out $2 million to Damon Tucker, a former investigator who alleged that Spitzer improperly fired him after Tucker began investigating him, claiming in his lawsuit that OC’s top law enforcement official may have engaged in crimes like money laundering and solicitation of bribes.
Tucker’s lawyers initially offered a $1.2 million settlement offer to the county, with county supervisors initially turning it down but eventually settling just days before the trial.
[Read: Could OC’s District Attorney Office Be Facing A Jury Trial Like Never Before?]
Former prosecutor Tracy Miller took Spitzer and the county to court and won in June, with a jury ordering a $3 million payout after they found Spitzer retaliated against Miller for helping other women report sexual harassment in his office.
[Read: OC Supervisors Remove District Attorney’s HR Department After $3 Million Loss]
County supervisors also settled two more cases brought by women alleging Spitzer retaliated against them for reporting harassment, paying out over $1.3 million across those settlements.
Another five women filed lawsuits claiming the same retaliation for reporting sexual harassment, but it’s unclear how many of those have been settled or how much money the county has spent litigating them.
Noah Biesiada is a Voice of OC reporter. Contact him at nbiesiada@voiceofoc.org.