Voice of OC (https://voiceofoc.org/tag/jailhouse-snitch-scandal/)
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.
The County of Orange will defend the District Attorney and Sheriff’s Department from a lawsuit over the alleged misuse of jailhouse informants, after the Board of Supervisors voted unanimously Tuesday for the county’s in-house attorneys to defend the lawsuit.
A joint task force between the Orange County District Attorney’s office and federal law enforcement agencies aimed at cracking down on local political corruption fell apart last year, after years of festering distrust between local and federal officials, according to an investigation by the Los Angeles Times.
“I think it’s improper for us to talk about, really, that subject matter now,” said supervisors’ Chairman Andrew Do.