- #Orange county ca district attorney court filed documents full#
- #Orange county ca district attorney court filed documents series#
In November 2015, three dozen legal scholars and former prosecutors from around the country called on Lynch to investigate what they termed “a crisis” in Orange County’s justice system. In addition to federal, state and local investigations, the allegations of abuses in Orange County have sparked criticism from the legal community. In Missoula, Mont., federal investigators recently found that local police and prosecutors failed to properly respond to allegations of rape and other sex crimes. The investigation announced Thursday puts Orange County in the company of places like Ferguson, Mo., and Baltimore, where the Justice Department launched probes of allegations of police brutality and civil rights violations after citizens died at the hands of police.
#Orange county ca district attorney court filed documents series#
In 2009, the Department of Justice’s Civil Rights Division investigated operations at the Orange County jail after a series of incidents, including a fatal stomping of an inmate. In 2000, the Los Angeles Police Department was taken over by federal officials after an investigation into allegations of corruption and criminal abuses within the department. While the Department of Justice rarely investigates local prosecutors, some high-profile probes of police agencies have resulted in federal oversight, at least temporarily, of those departments. Also, the California attorney general has been investigating local officials for at least 18 months. At the same time, the Orange County grand jury received money from the county to conduct an investigation into the District Attorney’s Office and Sheriff’s Department. Last month, a state appellate court issued a ruling that described constitutional abuses by local prosecutors and deputies as “systemic,” adding that in at least one high-profile case the District Attorney’s Office had abdicated its responsibility to follow the law. The move by federal officials follows a series of high-profile condemnations of Orange County’s judicial system. “This is an important development in moving forward to address the systemic problems that have been uncovered during the (Scott) Dekraai case,” Petrosino said. Orange County Public Defender Sharon Petrosino, whose office was instrumental in uncovering the misconduct that has been alleged, said the investigation could help fix the local justice system. “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.” Attorney Eileen Decker of the Central District of California said in a separate news release.
“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,” U.S. What effect, if any, the Justice Department’s investigation will have on the operations of the Orange County jail and the District Attorney’s Office still is to be determined. Several supervisors said Thursday that they welcome the investigation. The Justice Department’s announcement of its investigation came in the form of a letter to the Board of Supervisors, which oversees the District Attorney’s Office and Sheriff’s Department budgets. The Justice Department can go to court to force local cooperation if the District Attorney’s Office or Sheriff’s Department declines. Sheriff Sandra Hutchens also issued a statement offering her department’s cooperation, adding: “I welcome this review … It is, and has been, our ultimate goal to have a jail system that is exemplary.”
#Orange county ca district attorney court filed documents full#
RELATED: ‘Inside the Snitch Tank’: Read the full story of murder, misconduct and justice delayed The office issued a statement Thursday saying it would cooperate with investigators and expects to be exonerated. Attorney General Loretta Lynch saying his office would welcome a federal investigation. In January, District Attorney Tony Rackauckas, who has denied intentional wrongdoing, wrote a letter to U.S. While there have been high-profile federal investigations into police agencies, the Justice Department rarely investigates prosecutors. The investigation, announced by federal prosecutors in Los Angeles, comes after years of complaints from local defense attorneys that the district attorney and sheriff’s deputies routinely cheat in court, misuse informants and secretly tape conversations in jails to get convictions. Department of Justice launched a civil rights investigation of the Orange County District Attorney’s Office and the Sheriff’s Department on Thursday over allegations that prosecutors and deputies withhold evidence and use jailhouse informants to illegally obtain confessions.
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