Voice of OC (https://voiceofoc.org/tag/4th-district-court-of-appeal/)
The 4th District Court of Appeal unanimously supported the 2015 ruling by Superior Court Judge Thomas M. Goethals that removed District Attorney Tony Rackauckas’ team from the case after evidence violations involving jailhouse informants.
The 4th District Court of Appeal heard arguments Monday on a judge’s order barring Orange County District Attorney Tony Rackauckas’ office from prosecuting mass murderer Scott Evans Dekraai.
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.
For decades, Dr. Joseph Wu has used UCI’s PET brain imaging technology as the basis of his forensic diagnoses in murder cases. Wu’s testimony has a dubious reputation among experts in the field, with one calling it “hokum.”
Voice of OC filed suit after county officials refused to release records regarding officials’ actions leading up to Carlos Bustamante’s arrest on sex crimes. The open-government advocacy group Californians Aware has joined the suit.
The documents could shed light on what top county officials knew when they allowed former executive Carlos Bustamante to quietly resign.
The judges will fill slots on the 4th District Court of Appeal and Orange County Superior Court.
The decision to reject activists’ lawsuit means developer Mike Harrah has cleared the final legal hurdle to build a 37-story tower in Santa Ana.
A Santa Ana group continues its battle against a planned
37-story tower with a petition for review.
State and local governments battle over who is the “parent” of
children who need a host of educational and mental health
services.