The county grand jury is investigating alleged illegal conduct by prosecutors and sheriff’s deputies relating to an informants network inside county jails. Grand jurors are being aided by a former United States attorney.
Tag: Tony Rackauckas
Posted inCountywide, Top Stories
Local Figures Loom Large in Death Penalty Ballot Measure
While Proposition 62, which would outlaw the death penalty in California, has received the most attention this election year, District Attorney Tony Rackauckas and local billionaire Henry Nicholas are championing a competing measure aimed at speeding up executions.
Posted inCountywide, Government, Investigative, News Briefs, Top Stories
Appellate Court Hears Arguments in DA Recusal Case
The 4th District Court of Appeal heard arguments Monday on a judge’s order barring Orange County District Attorney Tony Rackauckas’ office from prosecuting mass murderer Scott Evans Dekraai.
Posted inCountywide, Investigative, Top Stories
Wozniak Sentenced to Death for Double Murder
Daniel Patrick Wozniak’s sentence for killing Samuel E. Herr and Juri “Julie” Kibuishi in 2010 was handed down Friday by Superior Court Judge John D. Conley.
Posted inCountywide, Investigative, Top Stories
Public Defender Harshly Criticizes Prosecutors, Judge in Wozniak Case
In a 185-page motion, Scott Sanders, who represents convicted double-murderer Daniel Patrick Wozniak, argues his client’s looming death sentence should be blocked because of error by the prosecution team and bias by the judge.
Posted inCountywide, Government, Investigative, Top Stories
With Death Sentence Looming, Judge Keeps Defense Motion Sealed in Wozniak Case
For nearly two weeks, Superior Court Judge John D. Conley has refused to unseal a motion filed by the public defender for Daniel Patrick Wozniak, which represents the double murderer’s last-ditch effort to avoid the death penalty.
Posted inCountywide, Government, Investigative, Top Stories
Judge: More Jail Informant Records Hidden by O.C. Sheriff’s Deputies
Superior Court Judge Thomas M. Goethals said Friday that a “significant amount” of recently uncovered informant evidence should have been provided years ago to public defenders for convicted mass murderer Scott Evans Dekraai.
Posted inCountywide, Government, Investigative, Top Stories
Dekraai Attorney Opens New Front in Jailhouse Snitch Scandal
Scott Sanders, the public defender who exposed the county’s jailhouse snitch operation, is now alleging in a letter that sheriff’s deputies surreptitiously eavesdropped on a constitutionally protected conversation he had with mass-murderer Scott Evans Dekraaai in jail.
Posted inGovernment, Top Stories
‘Nightmarish’ Software System Still Used by County Public Guardian
Orange County officials have failed to replace a seriously flawed case management system for severely disabled people that crashes on a weekly basis and creates errors in financial accounting, according to grand jurors and county auditors.
Posted inCountywide, Government, Investigative, Top Stories
Appellate Court: OK for DA to Disqualify Goethals
The 4th District Court of Appeal upheld the right of the DA’s office to disqualify the Superior Court judge presiding over the jailhouse snitch case from other murder cases, but described prosecutors’ actions as an “extraordinary abuse” of the procedure.
