Voice of OC (https://voiceofoc.org/tag/scott-sanders/)
Orange County’s civil grand jury said ongoing court hearing about possible misuse of jailhouse informants have turned into a “witch-hunt,” and should stop after the grand jury determined there is no “systemic, widespread informant program.”
Judge Thomas Goethals wants Sheriff Sandra Hutchens to explain in court her claim that there is no jailhouse informants program in Orange County jails.
Commander John Briggs testified Tuesday the jail house informant scandal developed because high management turnover left junior deputies with too much control, meaning “inmates were running the asylum on occasion.”
The contents of the Special Handling Log — notes kept by deputies on informants and other inmates — are at the center of a hearing which explores whether Sheriff’s Department officials withheld or shredded key documents.
Two more Sheriff’s Department personnel invoked their Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination, raising the total number of Sheriff’s officers who have taken the fifth to four.
Two Orange County Sheriff’s deputies, Benjamin Garcia and William Grover, invoked their Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination at a court hearing Thursday rather than answer questions about their dealings with jailhouse informant records.
The Scott Evans Dekraai mass murder trial has evolved into a case study of the Sheriff’s Department and Orange County District Attorney’s use of jailhouse informants.
Sheriff Sandra Hutchens could be called to testify in a hearing later this month, which will explore whether her department attempted to cover up a jailhouse informants program by intentionally destroying or withholding key discovery documents related to the case of mass murderer Scott Evans Dekraai.
Orange County Sheriff’s deputies were openly and actively encouraged to cultivate jailhouse informants to aid prosecutors and the department covered its tracks as revelations about the program unfolded in court, according to a 72-page motion filed by Assistant Public Defender Scott Sanders Thursday.
Attorney General Xavier Becerra announced he will seek the death penalty against Scott Evans Dekraai.