Orange County District Attorney’s Office and Sheriff’s Department under investigation

December 15, 2016

justice 2The U.S. Department of Justice announced Thursday it had launched a civil rights investigation into allegations the Orange County District Attorney’s Office and Sheriff’s Department withheld evidence and used jailhouse informants to illegally obtain confessions.

For years, defense attorneys have alleged that the district attorney’s office and the sheriff’s department used jailhouse informants to elicit incriminating statements from inmates who had been charged and were represented by counsel, in violation of the Sixth Amendment. Additionally, the district attorney’s office is accused of violating defendants’ 14th Amendment rights by failing to disclose promises of leniency that would have substantially undermined the credibility of the informants’ trial testimony.

In January, Orange County District Attorney Tony Rackauckas requested that the Justice Department review his office’s informant policies and practices and offered unfettered access to documents and personnel.

“We appreciate the district attorney’s invitation to review his office’s policies and practices, along with his assurance of unfettered access to documents and personnel in his office,” said United States Attorney Eileen M. Decker. “We are confident that this investigation, and the cooperation being offered by the Orange County District Attorney’s Office, will help restore public confidence in the integrity of the Orange County criminal justice system.”


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Then they can investigate the case of Fellows, sheriff being given extra special treatment after going in excess 100 MPH while drunk and carrying his weapon. That seems corrupt to me. His punishment to begin with was minimal.


Don’t waste the SLO DA’s time, he has better things to do, certainly not charging Wallace’s or the long list of others who stole from the rate/taxpayers. DA Dow is fast becoming another typical political waste.


Nothing to fear though, with our new attorney general of The United States this kind of nonsense of intervening on the behalf of “dirt bags” will surely end; they’ll not have the time as they flood our penal system with the vile pot users once again.


One small step forward thwarted once again by a life time of taking leaps and bounds backwards! The Moral Majorty’s American Way!


4-10 Moral Majorty? Do you mean Majority? Be careful you’re showing your age. lol No one has said they are going to roll back pot laws. Don’t worry so much about what hasn’t happened. What will happen is the law as written will be enforced on all. Not just the little guy. The big dogs are going to be held to the same legal standard as the rest of us.


I am pissed about MY Lambs by-the-way and you’d surely know just how much if CCN had a sports pages…. Whether intended or not Ramb’ ol’ son you made me laugh and pause… Thanks!


Read below about my spelling…


You’re not worried? Well then enjoy this…


https://youtu.be/8TLmWJklP2E


As far as the “Big Dogs” gettin’ the same? Can’t be as they control what defines “enforcement” and it never is the same from one person-to-another. It’s not a democracy we live in, no, it’s a “Pay To Play” plutocracy (Oh shit! Forgive me for using another worthless buzz word) we’ve hitched our horses to.


(; ) You should be watching the Raiders anyway. Thumbs up!


That’s just about as bad as watching the Niner’s… In saying that I am however a huge Carr fan. You know it took me a long time to realize that I can be a die hard Rams fan and still be a huge fan of players on other teams.


My Christrmas wish? Jim Harbaugh in L.A.


This is why I laugh when commenters refer to SLO County as the most corrupt county in the state. Sure, we have our share of crooked public officials but we’re rookies compared to places like OC and San Diego County.


I laugh too… at your logic…. overlook our corruption problems and deflect them by pointing elsewhere and proclaiming see its worse in other places. Such logic helps corruption flourish


And I laugh at your difficulty with reading comprehension. Nothing in my message said we don’t have corruption or should overlook it. We do and we shouldn’t. However, the histrionics don’t do anything to resolve the problems.


Okay lets talk about reading comprehension … You have no statistics to suggest our county are “rookies” in the area of corruption. I do agree that Orange County has a shitpot of bad politicos but I would love to see the corruption on a per capita basis. Plus SLO doesn’t have anything in place to allow serious investigations as our grand jury system is toothless.


Just business as usual for the Big OC… A few days of press, the Feds’ make a courtesy appearance and then it’s back to the business of “let’s Make a Deal” in the Big OC. Back in the day the OC District Attorney was always refered to by us “dirt bags” as Monty Hall and our court dates as an appearances on “Let’s Make a Deal”.


Who cares though; just a bunch of “dirt bags” anyway, right? That’s the attitude that costs you, and me, the tax payers, millions upon millions of dollars when this type of crap shows up civil courts and where the county ends up payin’ millions and millions of dollars in judgements, settlements and fines. But that’s okay too, right? Just blame it on the “dirt bags” because after all it is their fault in the long run. Just get ’em to prison already!!! The we can bitch about how much money they’re costin’ us there. Bitch, bitch, bitch!


The great state of California new state moto… “Bitch, Bitch, Bitch”


The informant strategy does not end with the D.A. This type of gastapo activity, originally developed by comrade stalin and mao tse tsung are a gaurantee within law enforcement. Informants are used at every level of law enforcement and range from secret tip lines ( which are utilized by mafias typically to tell on each other ) to paid informants for the f.b.i. There is not a single credible informant strategy in the whole of the world. It is strange that this barbarism is utilized within a civilized society. Spying on each other for the government, people should be ashamed. America “is” the new communism.


It’s all about fear…


You keep a country, or just a community within it, scared of itself, then the evils perpitrated against it by it’s own government is lost in the “Fog of (Their) War (Against or Civil Liberties and Rights)”. Then it’s easier to demonize those who choose to excersise their Constitutional Rights (you know; if he or she exercises there right not to subject themselves to unreasonable search and or seizure or not to incriminate themselves by staying silent it’s more often than not countered by most by “Why? Do you have something to hide”?).


I have heard often enough from those who are suppose to protect my rights advising me not to try and exercise them or I’ll spend the night in jail or worse. I’ve been smacked across the face when I chose not to speak. I’ve had stuff planted when I refused to let anyone search my personal belongings without probable cause or warrant. I’ve had my vehicle torn apart (the interior cut up, dash board ripped off, door panels ripped away, etc) after refusing a “consented search” and having them return with a warrant based on the “probable cause” of having a California license plate and a flat in an area where others usally don’t. Then after all that was done and they found nothing, they took my spare and the flat saying they would send someone to tow my vehicle at my expense, I shit you not (Cleveland, Tennessee)!


The NSA’s actions and the formation of Homeland Security should be enough evidence that our Civil Liberties and Civil Rights aren’t just under attack but aren’t worth the paper they’re printed on; those pieces of paper called The Consitution and Bill of Rights that have become talking points rather than the definitive evidence and definiton of our inalienable rights.


Buit so long as the only ones who can speak with any real tangible and documented proof of this are demonized as “dirt bags” nothing will be done until it’s way, way too late (if that’s not already happened).


I wanna apologize about my spelling… I am currently on my “Smart TV” with my computer going “SPLAT” so I don’t have the spell checker I absolutely need.


By-the-way? Why do they call these things “Smart TV’s” if they aren’t even smart enough to at least recognize and alert you to misspelled words?


I want my money back!


It happens everywhere…even SLO county.