Voice of OC (https://voiceofoc.org/tag/orange-county-district-attorneys-office/)
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.
County Counsel Leon Page said Tom Conklin and Abraham Santos’ claims of wrongdoing were found to be false in an independent investigation. Their attorney disputes the investigation and says his clients will be filing suit.
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.”
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.
It’s up to county supervisors to decide whether to settle the claims, which would prevent lawsuits. A settlement discussion is scheduled for Tuesday.
The DA’s office is aware of “several incidents” between Jensen and Moore and investigated two of those instances, spokeswoman Michelle Van Der Linden wrote in an email.
Tom Conklin, an investigator for the Orange County District Attorney who filed a complaint in May claiming he has faced retaliation for whistleblowing, was placed on administrative leave July 13.
The OC Register said District Attorney investigator Tom Conklin, in an 11-page summary of the investigation of Spitzer obtained by the newspaper, said bank records of former Spitzer aide Christine Richters didn’t show the cash withdrawals.
Sex between supervisors and subordinates, sexual harassment, and perceptions of a “good old boys club” that receives promotions and favorable treatment may contribute to a hostile work environment within the Orange County District Attorney’s investigations bureau, according to an Orange County Grand Jury report released Tuesday.