Voice of OC (https://voiceofoc.org/tag/don-barnes/)
Orange County District Attorney Todd Spitzer said Wednesday he was informed four months into his administration about a decision days after he was sworn in to not file charges against a sheriff’s deputy found to have made 74 false reports about evidence booking.
On Tuesday, it was publicly disclosed in Orange County Superior Court that sheriff officials kept a deputy in the field doing investigations months after they learned he made numerous false statements in police reports about evidence booking.
A judge will decide whether to unseal records about a deputy who was found to have made false statements about evidence in 74 different reports.
While authorizing new spending this week for the Sheriff’s Department, county supervisors continue to remain silent about mounting revelations of Sheriff’s Department evidence booking misconduct that could weaken thousands of criminal cases.
An ongoing review by prosecutors – as well as court documents – are prompting questions about whether Orange County’s top law enforcement officer has been telling the whole truth.
And audit found that more than 60 reports alleging misconduct or crimes by sheriff officials had not been not investigated, Sgt. William West said in testimony reported by the Orange County Register.
Sheriff Don Barnes’ spokeswoman declined to say why county supervisors and the district attorney weren’t told of the scale of the issue sooner.
There was no discussion of how much money would be devoted to the plan or how many doctors or nurses would be treating inmates. Answers weren’t provided after the meeting.
County supervisors approved the raises without public discussion Tuesday.
Former District Attorney Tony Rackauckas quietly decided last year to not have prosecutors tell defense attorneys about 10 sheriff deputies suspected of lying about or concealing records about jail informants.