“This has been an embarrassment for us and um, nobody wants this to happen again,” testified Commander William Baker. “It’s not going to happen again.”
Tag: Thomas Goethals
Posted inCountywide, Investigative, Safety, Security & Justice, Top Stories
Court of Appeals Says OC Prosecutors Withheld Evidence in Another Jailhouse Informants Case
The Fourth District Court of Appeal Friday unanimously upheld a ruling that Orange County District Attorney prosecutors improperly withheld information from defense attorneys and misused a jailhouse informant.
Posted inCountywide, Investigative, Safety, Security & Justice, Top Stories
Mass Murderer Scott Dekraai: “I’m sorry. I’m very, very sorry”
Orange County’s worst mass murderer Scott Evans Dekraai, who shot and killed eight people at a Seal Beach beauty salon in 2011, publicly apologized Thursday to the sister of one of his victims.
Posted inCountywide, Investigative, Safety, Security & Justice, Top Stories
Sheriff’s Department Believed It Had a Legal Right to Withhold Documents From The Court
The Sheriff’s Department withheld documents from court disclosure, believing a section of the California penal code didn’t require the department to turn them over, retired Sheriff’s Lt. Catherine Irons testified Wednesday.
Posted inGovernment, Investigative, Safety, Security & Justice, Top Stories
OC Grand Jury Wants Jailhouse Informant Hearing to Stop, Saying There’s No Widespread Violations
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.”
Posted inCountywide, Investigative, Top Stories
Judge Wants Sheriff to Testify on Jailhouse Snitch Scandal
Judge Thomas Goethals wants Sheriff Sandra Hutchens to explain in court her claim that there is no jailhouse informants program in Orange County jails.
Posted inCountywide, Investigative, Safety, Security & Justice, Top Stories
Sheriff’s Commander Says Lack of Supervision Left Deputies Running Jailhouse Informants
Commander Jon 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.”
Posted inCountywide, Investigative, Safety, Security & Justice, Top Stories
Judge in Dekraai Murder Trial Defends Uncovering Sheriff and DA Misuse of Jailhouse Informants
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.
Posted inGovernment, Investigative, Safety, Security & Justice, Top Stories
DA Tony Rackauckas Defends His Prosecutors’ Handling of Informants
In a live radio interview, the DA said the rulings against his office came from “one judge” who allowed an extensive search through cases that “had nothing to do with” the trial he was presiding over.
Posted inCountywide, Investigative, Safety, Security & Justice, Top Stories
Sheriff’s Deputies Take the Fifth During Jailhouse Snitch Hearing
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.
