In a 185-page motion, Scott Sanders, who represents convicted double-murderer Daniel Patrick Wozniak, argues his client’s looming death sentence should be blocked because of error by the prosecution team and bias by the judge.
Author Archives: REX DALTON
Posted inCountywide, Government, Investigative, Top Stories
With Death Sentence Looming, Judge Keeps Defense Motion Sealed in Wozniak Case
For nearly two weeks, Superior Court Judge John D. Conley has refused to unseal a motion filed by the public defender for Daniel Patrick Wozniak, which represents the double murderer’s last-ditch effort to avoid the death penalty.
Posted inCountywide, Government, Investigative, Top Stories
Judge: More Jail Informant Records Hidden by O.C. Sheriff’s Deputies
Superior Court Judge Thomas M. Goethals said Friday that a “significant amount” of recently uncovered informant evidence should have been provided years ago to public defenders for convicted mass murderer Scott Evans Dekraai.
Posted inCountywide, Government, Investigative, Top Stories
Dekraai Attorney Opens New Front in Jailhouse Snitch Scandal
Scott Sanders, the public defender who exposed the county’s jailhouse snitch operation, is now alleging in a letter that sheriff’s deputies surreptitiously eavesdropped on a constitutionally protected conversation he had with mass-murderer Scott Evans Dekraaai in jail.
Posted inCountywide, Government, Investigative, Top Stories
Appellate Court: OK for DA to Disqualify Goethals
The 4th District Court of Appeal upheld the right of the DA’s office to disqualify the Superior Court judge presiding over the jailhouse snitch case from other murder cases, but described prosecutors’ actions as an “extraordinary abuse” of the procedure.
Posted inCountywide, Government, Health & Wellness, Top Stories
Public Defender Seeking Social Workers to Help With Prisoner Reentry
The agency hopes to hire four social workers to assist public defenders in integrating clients back into the community — as a part of California’s broader effort to help offenders lead productive lives and save taxpayer dollars.
Posted inCountywide, Health & Wellness, Top Stories
Grassroots Prisoner Reentry Programs Show Progress
Several programs created throughout Southern California in the wake of Proposition 47 in 2014, which called for releasing certain non-violent and drug offenders from state prisons, are beginning to bear fruit.
Posted inCountywide, Government, Investigative, Top Stories
DA Says Records Contradict Sheriff Deputy Testimony in Snitch Case
Recently disclosed Orange County sheriff’s deputies records refute previous testimony in the case against mass murderer Scott Evans Dekraai, according to court documents filed Thursday by District Attorney Tony Rackauckas’ team.
Posted inCountywide, Top Stories
Rehabilitation Programs Not Seeing Promised Windfall From Prop. 47
When California voters overwhelming passed the ballot initiative calling for the release of non-violent drug offenders from state prisons, they were told more than $100 million would be available for rehabilitation services. But the current budgeted amount is drastically less.
Posted inCountywide, Government, Investigative, Top Stories
Delay in Wozniak Sentencing Marks New Phase of Jail Informants Scandal
The sentencing of Daniel Patrick Wozniak, who was convicted last December of a grisly double-murder, will continue to drag on after more revelations of Orange County Sheriff’s deputies maintaining secret records on jailhouse snitches have surfaced in recent weeks.
