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INTERCONTINENTALLOSANGE LESDOW NTOWN

A court filing made pub-
lic Thursday has raised new
questions about the way Or-
ange County law enforce-
ment leaders reviewed alle-
gations of deputy miscon-
duct during the jailhouse in-
formant scandal, opening
the door for challenges to a
number of criminal cases
filed in the last three years.
The discovery motion,
filed in a drug possession
case by Assistant Public De-
fender Scott Sanders, seeks
a wide array of documents
related to the county’s han-
dling of law enforcement of-
ficers whose honesty has
been questioned. The move
is yet more fallout from a so-
called snitch scandal that
centered on allegations that
deputies in a special unit
housed jailhouse inform-
ants near high-profile de-
fendants to obtain confes-
sions or other incriminating
statements without their at-
torneys being present, vio-
lating their rights.
Sanders has previously
claimed that deputies con-
nected to the snitch scandal
have testified in at least 146
cases in recent years with-
out their histories being dis-
closed to defense attorneys.
His assertions seemed to
gain some credence when
Orange County Dist. Atty.
Todd Spitzer recently added
four deputies linked to the
informant scandal to the of-
fice’s so-called Brady list,
which refers to the U.S.
Supreme Court ruling re-
quiring the disclosure of po-
tentially exculpatory evi-
dence to a defendant, in-
cluding information that
might impeach a law en-
forcement official’s testi-
mony.
Spitzer’s action reversed
former Dist. Atty. Tony
Rackauckas’ decision not to
add any deputies connected
to the controversy to the list.

“The time for blind trust

has long ended, and the [Or-

ange County district attor-

ney’s office] should now be

compelled to disclose what

was known, by whom and

when,” Sanders wrote in the

34-page filing.

The informant scandal

has dogged Spitzer even

though he beat Rackauckas

in a 2018 election that largely

focused on his predecessor’s

alleged mishandling of the

controversy.

Rackauckas sent a letter

to the Sheriff ’s Department

in late 2018 announcing his

decision not to add any dep-

uties linked to the special

unit that managed inform-

ants in the jails to the Brady

list. Rackauckas did not ex-

plain his rationale in the let-

ter, though he did say his de-

cision was “unaffected by

the [California] attorney

general’s decision not to pur-

sue criminal actions”

against any Sheriff ’s De-

partment personnel.

After reviewing Rack-

auckas’ decision, Spitzer

said his reversal stemmed

from the deputies’ respons-

es to an email sent by a Sher-

iff ’s Department supervisor

in 2016, asking whether they

had knowledge of a log that

documented informant

movements in the jails. It

was determined that the

four deputies’ responses

were not entirely truthful,

though not outright lies,

Spitzer said.

Senior prosecutors ad-

vised Rackauckas to add the

deputies to the Brady list in

the summer of 2018, but he

ignored their recommenda-

tion, said Spitzer, who de-

scribed his predecessor’s

analysis as “poorly rea-

soned.” Spitzer declined to

release any documentation

of Rackauckas’ analysis, and

attempts to contact Rack-

auckas were unsuccessful.

Law enforcement ex-

perts and Sanders maintain

that reviews of potential

deputy misconduct fell

short. In his motion, Sand-

ers pointed out that more

than 300 deputies worked in

the special handling unit at

the time of the scandal, yet

Rackauckas’ review focused

on just 12 people.

The Orange County dis-

trict attorney’s office “had

never attempted to answer

the key question in an au-

thentic Brady analysis:

whether deputies violated

the law and/or concealed

jailhouse informant related

evidence while working

months and years in the

jail,” Sanders wrote in

Thursday’s motion.

Authorities have de-

clined to identify the depu-

ties. Tom Dominguez, presi-

dent of the union that repre-

sents Orange County sher-

iff ’s deputies, said only one

of the four remains on active

duty. Two others have re-

tired, and a third is on ad-

ministrative leave, Domin-

guez said.

It remains unclear how

many criminal cases could

be affected by the deputies’

inclusion on the Brady list.

The district attorney’s office

is reviewing trials from Feb-

ruary 2016, when the email

was sent, and the present

date, and it will notify de-

fense attorneys if any disclo-

sures need to be made.

Given that special han-

dling deputies are often pro-

moted to work in the field,

Sanders said the number of

cases affected could be high.

“These guys are around

all the time, on the stand,” he

said.

Orange County Sheriff

Don Barnes cautioned

Thursday that just because

adeputy is added to the

Brady list does not mean his

or her case testimony is nec-

essarily impeached.

“It’s not a death knell,” he

said. “It just means that

there’s an obligation that

has to be followed.”

Robert Weisberg, a pro-

fessor of criminal law at

Stanford University, said the

Brady review conducted by

the district attorney’s office

was inadequate, especially

in the face of the informant

scandal that gave rise to

questions about the credi-

bility of deputies in the first

place.

“I would say that the

good policies would never

find it sufficient to rely on a

statement from someone.

‘Oh, no, I don’t have any-

thing,’ is not verifiable,” he

said. “This policy, if you want

to call it a policy, would be ex-

tremely insufficient. It’s well

behind the level of rigor that

many prosecutor’s offices

now have.”

Spitzer acknowledged it

is likely that the deputies

testified in cases that have

been adjudicated and that

may need to be reopened.

The continued fallout from

decisions made by Rack-

auckas is frustrating but

also necessary, he added.

“This inquiry is just con-

suming a tremendous

amount of resources and

time,” Spitzer said. “I don’t

want to use the word ‘dis-

traction,’ because it’s a very,

very important inquiry, but

do I want to get past it as

soon as possible? Abso-

lutely.”

However, Spitzer’s deci-

sion to add the deputies to

the Brady list has drawn ire

from other law enforcement

officials. Dominguez, the

union president, said the

district attorney has need-

lessly imperiled convictions

by revisiting an issue that

was already settled.

Former Sheriff Sandra

Hutchens “did not believe

these people were being un-

truthful. The prior D.A. obvi-

ously did not Brady these

cops,” he said. “But we have

a new D.A. come in, and his

opinion is far different from

these two?”

But Weisberg said the ap-

parent weakness of the

county’s Brady reviews, cou-

pled with the weakened

credibility of the county’s

top law enforcement agen-

cies in the aftermath of the

snitch scandal, have opened

the door for Sanders to win.

“There’s a very good ar-

gument ... that they have to

do a much better job than

they did,” he said. “They

have to have some inde-

pendent review of files. It’s

not enough to just ask the

relevant deputies if you have

anything.”

Debate over snitch scandal is revived

ORANGE COUNTY DIST. ATTY. Todd Spitzer reversed course from his predecessor by adding four depu-

ties connected to a jail informant scandal to a list of problem officers whose records must be disclosed at trials.

Photographs by Allen J. SchabenLos Angeles Times

Filing seeks to compel

O.C. district attorney

to disclose records

on officers with a

history of dishonesty.

By James Queally

ASSISTANTPublic Defender Scott Sanders’ filing

could open the door for challenges to criminal cases.

For the first time in its

nearly 100-year history, the

Los Angeles Board of Police

Commissioners on Tuesday

selected women to lead the

oversight panel of one of the

nation’s largest police

forces.

In unanimous votes,

commissioners picked

Eileen Decker to be presi-

dent and Shane Murphy

Goldsmith as vice president.

The leaders typically serve

two years in those roles.

Among her priorities,

Decker said she wants to

hold more meetings

throughout the community

and make sure the depart-

ment’s de-escalation poli-

cies are embedded through-

out the ranks. She also plans

to ask Inspector General

Mark Smith to audit those

practices.

Decker also vowed to

make sure commissioners

conduct fair reviews of use-

of-force cases, noting that

it’s the most important role

of the panel.

“We can help expand An-

gelenos’ trust in the LAPD,”

Decker said, noting the de-

partment needs to build up-

on racial, ethnic and gender

diversity when hiring new of-

ficers. “I’m committed to lis-

tening to you and hearing

your perspective.”

Decker, who joined the

commission in October, has

spent years in law enforce-

ment positions.

She was the U.S. attorney

for the Central District of

California, which includes

Los Angeles and several sur-

rounding counties, from 2015

until the Trump administra-

tion forced her to resign

along with dozens of other

head prosecutors in March

2017.

She oversaw the prosecu-

tions of former L.A. County

Sheriff Lee Baca and his sec-

ond-in-command, Paul Tan-

aka, as well as that of En-

rique Marquez Jr., an ac-

complice in the 2015 San Ber-

nardino terrorist attack.

Before becoming U.S. at-

torney, Decker was a Los An-

geles deputy mayor for pub-

lic safety and homeland se-

curity. She began her career

in private legal practice,

then served as a federal

prosecutor for 15 years.

Goldsmith, who joined

the commission in Septem-

ber 2016,is the president and

chief executive officer at the

Liberty Hill Foundation, an

L.A.-based group that con-

nects philanthropists and

community organizers to

address racial, economic,

environmental and LGBTQ

issues.

“I am eager to assist Pres-

ident Decker in providing

the necessary leadership to

build upon the past suc-

cesses of both the commis-

sion and department to

move us forward,” Gold-

smith said in a statement.

The meeting turned con-

tentious after LAPD Assist-

ant Chief Robert Arcos

briefed commissioners on

incidents in the last week, in-

cluding two in which officers

fatally shot armed suspects.

For about 90 minutes,

dozens of activists each

spent two minutes lambast-

ing commissioners for not

asking questions about the

incidents and for not ad-

dressing concerns raised

weekly in the meetings.

Several speakers ac-

cused the panel of rubber-

stamping all the depart-

ment’s requests. One said

the activism will grow if com-

missioners don’t start lis-

tening to the public.

Decker told the group the

panel does not ask about the

incidents because commis-

sioners will have to deter-

mine whether officers fol-

lowed departmental poli-

cies.

Making history, women will

lead LAPD watchdog group

By Mark Puente

SHANE MURPHY GOLDSMITH,above, and Eileen

Decker were unanimously voted in by the committee.

Al SeibLos Angeles Times