Voice of OC (https://voiceofoc.org/tag/tony-rackauckas/)
Former District Attorney Tony Rackauckas quietly decided last year to not have prosecutors tell defense attorneys about 10 sheriff deputies suspected of lying about or concealing records about jail informants.
It’s first time in years Orange County DA officials have been known to place a politician under surveillance for alleged residency fraud.
In sworn testimony, Mayor Miguel Pulido was accused of running a side business personally renting out city-owned property and interfering with police decisions about which illegal pot shops to raid. Pulido denies the allegations.
Two top Santa Ana officials, including a former police chief, alleged under oath the city’s police union leader engaged in bribery of City Council candidates in 2016, saying Sgt. Gerry Serrano told candidates they had to agree to fire then-Police Chief Carlos Rojas in order to benefit from $400,000 in campaign spending.
Sgt. Gerry Serrano went from facing potential DUI hit-and-run charges to leading one of the larger police unions in California. Voice of OC is publishing portions of the DUI police report for the first time.
U.S. Senator Kamala Harris, former state attorney general, defended her refusal to launch a large investigation into the Orange County District Attorney for the jailhouse informant program and said the county could handle it, reported the New York Times.
Former District Attorney Tony Rackauckas demoted his Chief of Staff Susan Kang Schroeder, along with at least several other people, on his way out of the office in an attempt to ensure they had jobs, but Schroeder resigned Jan. 14, according to DA Todd Spitzer.
Democrat Katie Porter pulled ahead of Republican Congresswoman Mimi Walters, and DA Tony Rackauckas announced his office will be transitioning to Spitzer’s administration over the next few weeks. Here are the latest counts as of 5 p.m. Tuesday.
Spitzer said he plans to step up prosecutions of hate crimes, will meet regularly with communities that feel they’re treated unfairly by law enforcement, will not evaluate prosecutors based on conviction rates, and will hold police officers and prosecutors accountable.
Spitzer was up by 5.8 percentage points in the latest ballot count. There was no word of a concession by his opponent, incumbent DA Tony Rackauckas.