Voice of OC (https://voiceofoc.org/category/topics/public-safety/page/2/)
A county grand jury found a widespread perception within the investigations bureau that promotions and favorable treatment went to employees as a result of sexual relationships with superiors.
Stephen G. Larson and his law firm have been paid at least $140,000 in taxpayer funds, but did not file the two reports he promised for the first half of this year. He said they weren’t required by his contract and his time was better spent working on the informant issues.
The reforms were recommended as the result of an ongoing scandal in which jailhouse informants were illegally used and relevant evidence was not provided to defense attorneys.
Confessed mass murderer Scott Evans Dekraai will receive life in prison after Superior Court Judge Thomas Goethals Friday blocked him from receiving the death penalty.
In an official response to the Orange County Grand Jury’s June report, which called the jailhouse informant scandal a “myth,” District Attorney Tony Rackauckas agreed with most of the report’s findings, except for those which criticized his department for a lack of training protocols and procedure.
It’s one of several questions Superior Court Judge Thomas Goethals is considering before ruling Aug. 18 on whether or not confessed mass murderer Scott Evans Dekraai faces the death penalty
Superior Court Judge Thomas Goethals will announce Friday if mass murderer Scott Evans Dekraai faces the death penalty in a case that upended at least six other criminal convictions, damaged the reputations of both the Orange County Sheriff’s Department and District Attorney’s Office and unveiled the “jailhouse snitch scandal.”
Anaheim Police Chief Raul Quezada has filed a claim against the city alleging its policies “led directly to polarization” of the police department and resulted in 87 percent of police union voters deciding they had no confidence in the chief
Attorneys gave their final arguments at a hearing Thursday, which addresses allegations by the defense that the failure by prosecutors and the Sheriff’s Department to turn over records in the past – and the potential that they still haven’t turned over everything – suggest Dekraai won’t receive a fair penalty trial and he should be spared the death penalty.
Deputy District Attorney Karen Schatzle, who ran against incumbent Judge Scott Steiner in 2016, has filed an internal claim against the county of Orange alleging District Attorney Tony Rackauckas retaliated against her after she announced her intention to run for office.