Voice of OC (https://voiceofoc.org/tag/sandra-hutchens/)
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.
“I think it’s improper for us to talk about, really, that subject matter now,” said supervisors’ Chairman Andrew Do.
The lawsuit claims the District Attorney and Sheriff continue to use informants illegally as part of a long-standing snitch program, despite official claims that the illegal use of informants is the work of a few rogue deputies.
Orange County’s top law enforcement jobs could be hotly contested races this year as four candidates, including District Attorney Tony Rackauckas, are running for DA and three contenders want to replace Sandra Hutchens as Sheriff.
County Supervisors, who are responsible for defining who responds to which type of search and rescue incident, said it wasn’t their job to fix the dispute – which reportedly has led to near-collisions between rescue helicopters. Supervisors instead pointed to other agencies to resolve the issue.
In 2017, with federal and state investigations underway, the spotlight turned to the Sheriff’s Department and why it took years for the department to turn over key evidence related to informants.
The recommendations are aimed at diverting mentally ill people from jails into treatment, which county officials say would improve public safety by reducing crime, while also saving taxpayer dollars.
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.”
Fire Authority officials say they’ve been performing air rescues for over 20 years and are well-equipped for the job, but that in recent years sheriff’s helicopter crews have been racing to the scene and taking control.
Over $100 million in taxpayer money has been spent since the most recent audit, which was in 2002. The aging system is proprietary, and no bids have been sought from other companies for its $140 million overhaul.