Concerns over whether the Orange County Sheriff’s Department withheld or destroyed evidence regarding its legally dubious use of confidential informants has prompted Superior Court Judge Thomas Goethals to order an evidentiary hearing on the matter.
Goethals’ order last Friday followed a legal brief filed last week by Public Defender Scott Sanders alleging the department has engaged in a cover-up of its informant program. “Since the inception of this case, members of the OCSD have demonstrated what appears to be a deeply ingrained and institutionally-supported contempt for the legal process,” Sanders wrote.
Sanders is the attorney of the admitted Seal Beach salon mass murderer, who, despite clear evidence of guilt, was one of many suspects held in Orange County jails targeted by informants. Suspects who have retained legal counsel are constitutionally protected from efforts by the government to elicit incriminating statements, including from informants.
The fallout from Orange County’s use of informants has resulted in the vacating of several criminal convictions and has prompted federal and state investigations.
There has been considerable concern about the cooperativeness of the OCSD in turning over pertinent information regarding its use of informants. In December, Goethals threatened to hold Sheriff Sandra Hutchens in contempt for failing to turn over documents he requested “200 weeks, or 1,400 days” ago.
Adding to this overall lag in compliance, the Orange County Register reported last month the OCSD “received permission from county supervisors to shred potentially incriminating records” in 2014, just days after Goethals reopened an investigation into the departments use of informants.
“If the agency’s motives in seeking authorization to destroy were noble and in furtherance of good governance, why did its representatives violate the subpoena process and hide the new retention policy from the defense?” asked Sanders in his recent court filing. The evidentiary hearing will specifically focus on the OCSD’s handing of records.
Taken together, the picture that has emerged of the OCSD’s willingness to cooperate is a troubling one. Accountability has thus far been lacking, undermining public trust and confidence in the criminal justice system. We urge OCSD to cooperate fully.
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