Voice of OC (https://voiceofoc.org/tag/jailhouse-snitch-scandal/)
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.
A lack of oversight allowed the illegal recording of more than 30,000 phone calls between inmates and their attorneys inside county jails, according to the Orange County Grand Jury.
District Attorney Todd Spitzer announced April 24 that he’s launching an internal investigation into the jailhouse snitch scandal while seeking clarification from the state Attorney General if the state probe is finished or not.
The California Attorney General ended its probe into the jailhouse snitch scandal that rocked the Orange County Sheriff’s Department and District Attorney’s office, which was first uncovered in a mass murderer’s trial over four years ago.
District Attorney Todd Spitzer is calling on federal authorities to end the DOJ probe into use of jailhouse snitches in Orange County and instead make a deal to institute reforms.
U.S. Senator Kamala Harris, former state attorney general, defended her refusal to launch a large investigation into the Orange County District Attorney for the jailhouse informant program and said the county could handle it, reported the New York Times.
Spitzer said he plans to step up prosecutions of hate crimes, will meet regularly with communities that feel they’re treated unfairly by law enforcement, will not evaluate prosecutors based on conviction rates, and will hold police officers and prosecutors accountable.
Global Tel Link, the county contractor that recorded more than 1,000 inmate phone calls specifically designated as “do not record,” did the same thing two years ago in Florida’s Pinellas and Charlotte counties, company executives said Thursday.
Undersheriff Don Barnes, Aliso Viejo Mayor Dave Harrington and Los Angeles District Attorney detective Duke Nguyen are all vying for the Sheriff’s seat on June 5.
Complicated investigations can several take years, but a deadline is looming: the expiration of the three-year statute of limitations on state perjury charges against three Sheriff’s deputies who are accused of lying under oath about their work with informants during testimonies in 2014 and 2015.