Voice of OC (https://voiceofoc.org/tag/orange-county-sheriffs-department/)
With OC jails experiencing a novel coronavirus outbreak, County officials are beginning to early release about scores of prisoners early and workers are getting apprehensive. Meanwhile, a group of criminal defense attorneys are asking a federal judge to clear out the jails.
Barnes declined to discuss specific cases, citing laws protecting police officers’ privacy. But he laid the evidence booking problem squarely on individual staff members and “gaps” in evidence booking protocol.
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.
The records would show what officials knew – and when – about a sheriff’s deputy found to have falsely stated in 74 different reports that he had booked evidence.
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.
Residents said the county was moving forward with its Yale St. shelter plans without spreading the burden to south county cities that don’t host any shelters. County officials said the shelter would be an improvement over the existing Courtyard shelter that’s being replaced.
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.
The Sheriff’s Department has faced controversy in recent weeks over revelations that an internal audit found hundreds of cases where deputies failed to follow policy in booking drugs, cash, photos, and videos in criminal cases by the end of their shift.