Judge disqualifies all 250 prosecutors in Orange County; widespread corruption

[antiquie]

On October 12, 2011, Orange County experienced the deadliest mass killing in its modern history. Scott Dekraai killed 8 people, including his ex-wife, in a Seal Beach beauty salon. He was arrested wearing full body armor just a few blocks away. Without a doubt, Dekraai was the perpetrator. A dozen surviving witnesses saw him. He admitted to the shooting early on. Yet, nearly four years later, the case against him has all but fallen apart.

It turns out that prosecutors and police officers committed an egregious violation of Dekraai's rights—so much so that Superior Court Judge Thomas Goethals shocked everyone and removed the Orange County District Attorney's Office, and all 250 prosecutors, from having anything more to do with the case.

It turns out that Orange County has a secret system of evidence manufacturing and storage that they have used in countless cases, and the collusion is unraveling dozens of cases and may soon unravel the careers of countless prosecutors and law enforcement officers who've maintained it for decades. It's called TRED.

In recent months, we've learned, over the objections of the Orange County Sheriff's Department (OCSD), that the agency created TRED, a computerized records system in which deputies store information about in-custody defendants, including informants. Some of the data is trivial; other pieces contain vital, exculpatory evidence. But for a quarter of a century, OCSD management deemed TRED beyond the reach of any outside authority. In Dekraai, deputies Ben Garcia and Seth Tunstall committed perjury to hide the mere existence of TRED. Those lies didn't originate from blind loyalty, however. The concealed records show how prosecution teams slyly trampled the constitutional rights of defendants by employing informants—and then keeping clueless judges, juries and defense lawyers.

more on Kos

[pinto]

1. Ridiculous. A dozen eye witnesses, the alleged perp apprehended nearby with full body armor...

Seems a clear cut case. Only to be derailed by OC District Attorney's office history of unconstitutional prosecution procedures.

There's a message here...

[eppur_se_muova]

3. Orange Co. -- Home of the John Wayne Int'l Airport.

... It is also known for its political conservatism — a 2005 academic study listed three Orange County cities as among America's 25 most conservative, making it one of two counties in the nation containing more than one such city. (Maricopa County, Arizona also has three cities on the list.[9]) ...

... Orange County was at one time the largest county to have declared bankruptcy. In 1994, longtime treasurer Robert Citron's investment strategies left the county with inadequate capital to allow for any rise in interest rates for its trading positions. When the residents of Orange County voted down a proposal to raise taxes in order to balance the budget, bankruptcy followed soon after. ...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Orange_County,_California

But, you knew it would be conservative-controlled when you saw the word "corruption".

[antiquie]

4. We have made progress during the past ten years.

Current Registration Counts
Secretary of State report of registration (2/10/2015) 1,417,579
Party Counts
DEM 449,914
REP 573,580
AI 38,082
GRN 5,647
LIB 12,149
P-F 3,645
MISC 5,135
NPP 328,882

[NBachers]

5. I guess Orange County is the only place this is happening, huh?