“The guiding light in that office is ‘How is it going to make Todd Spitzer look?’” one former prosecutor said.

 OC District Attorney Todd Spitzer is a Professional Criminal hiding with his immunity cloak! The United States’ Most Corrupt District Attorney To Date

The head of one of the largest district attorney’s offices in the US is tanking the local justice system with his ironfisted grip on the office, using fear and retaliation against subordinates and interfering in high-profile cases to boost his public image, according to internal documents and interviews with current and former employees.

Their accounts come as the district attorney for Orange County, California, Todd Spitzer, is facing a growing list of lawsuits and accusations of racism. More than 70 prosecutors — about a quarter of the office’s entire roster of attorneys — have left over the last three years. All of the alleged misconduct, current and former prosecutors and investigators who spoke to BuzzFeed News said, is to protect Spitzer’s public persona and political career, which they said has come at the cost of morale and the reputation of their office. Justice, they said, has come second to generating positive headlines and protecting the personal brand of the county’s top prosecutor.

“Sometimes that aligns with justice, sometimes it doesn’t,” a current prosecutor said.

BuzzFeed News spoke with 11 current and former law enforcement officials from the district attorney’s office who worked under Spitzer, most of whom spoke on condition of anonymity citing a fear of retaliation. Even those no longer working within the prosecutor’s office said they were concerned that speaking out could lead to personal or professional repercussions within the small world of the Southern California legal system. BuzzFeed News also obtained internal memos, emails, confidential investigative reports, and public court records to corroborate many of their accounts. These interviews and documents show that, among other things:

• Spitzer launched internal investigations as payback against prosecutors and investigators who pursued cases that he wanted dropped or that posed a threat of revealing comments or decisions that he wanted hidden, according to three officials with direct knowledge.
• In spite of vowing to step back to protect the prosecution’s independence, Spitzer “shopped around” for a prosecutor who’d align with his personal view in the high-profile case of Grant Robicheaux, a wealthy surgeon accused of raping multiple women, according to two sources. At least one prosecutor refused to take it on because they felt Spitzer wanted charges reduced or dropped.
• Spitzer brought up race multiple times as he made decisions on criminal prosecutions and used Black prosecutors as the face of the office to deflect criticism of his record, former prosecutors said in interviews and documents.
• Two supervisors and an outside investigator have found the district attorney “not credible” when he was questioned in two separate investigations, according to reports obtained by BuzzFeed News. In one instance, Spitzer lied to his own homicide investigator, possibly obstructing justice and tainting two criminal cases, after having an “improper” conversation with the father of a young boy killed in a mass shooting, one former high-ranking prosecutor said in a legal claim.
• Though he touted himself as a victims advocate, some alleged victims have told BuzzFeed News they were publicly discredited, abandoned by Spitzer’s office, and verbally attacked by him behind closed doors.

In a statement to BuzzFeed News, Spitzer denied using the prosecutor’s office for his political benefit, interfering in criminal cases, and taking action to tip the outcome of investigations and trials to his liking. Instead, he accused critics of “coordinat[ing] efforts to embarrass me and deter me from my efforts.”

“This is no coincidence and the motive is clear,” Spitzer said in the statement. “Nothing will deter me from continuing my mission to clean up the public corruption in the Orange County District Attorney’s Office and safeguard the criminal justice system.”

He also denied an atmosphere of fear and retaliation in the prosecutor’s office, saying that incidents of discipline were meant to ferret out a “win-at-all-costs” mentality from a previous administration.

“Accountability cannot be confused for retaliation,” he said.

The district attorney was also critical of BuzzFeed News’ use of anonymous sources for this article, suggesting they were disgruntled employees looking for a payout.

“It is disingenuous to allow people speaking under the condition of anonymity to make allegations of this nature, especially when many of them have a vested financial interest in painting the office and the DA in the worst possible light,” he said in the statement. “There has not been a single sustained allegation of retaliation by the DA and to refuse to identify sources while they are allowed unfettered ability to make unsubstantiated and factually inaccurate statements is not only unfair, it is a disservice to the public we serve and the work that we do on a daily basis to pursue justice and give the voiceless a voice.”

Yet that daily work is now threatened by what insiders have called a mass exodus from the office. The office maintains a roster of about 300 attorneys on staff, and the district attorney’s office confirmed 73 prosecutors have left over a period of three years. (Fourteen returned to do part-time work on contract, the district attorney’s office added.)

But the result, sources said, has been a “brain drain” from the Orange County district attorney’s office of mid- and high-level prosecutors. Today, several officials said, prosecutors with less experience are handling bigger caseloads and more complicated cases than they would have before.

“Everybody is looking for an exit strategy because it’s just a rotten place to work,” one former prosecutor said. “That’s 100% Todd Spitzer’s fault.”

The district attorney’s office disputed the number of departures and, despite concerns from multiple supervisors and line prosecutors about attrition, said their rate was lower than other county agencies. Officials also pointed to a county program launched in 2020 that offered up to $100,000 in incentives for long-term employees to retire.

After being contacted for this story, a spokesperson for the district attorney’s office asked prosecutors to reach out to BuzzFeed News to talk about their experiences.

Four people — including one who refused to identify themself and one person who declined to be named in this article, saying they were concerned they’d face blowback from coworkers for speaking positively about their boss — spoke highly of Spitzer and his handling of multiple scandals that have plagued the office in recent years. They also described what they said was a divided office, affected by the politics of an upcoming election.

“It is a toxic environment in the sense that if you’re pro-Todd [Spitzer], you can’t say that openly in the office because so many people are openly against him,” Jeri Katheryne Neff, a prosecutor who was asked to contact BuzzFeed News.

The recent headlines, lawsuits, and allegations raised against Spitzer have fractured the prosecution office, said Beth Costello, a senior assistant district attorney who was also asked to contact BuzzFeed News.

“If I say something good and my name is attached to it, then the other 50% of the office that’s disgruntled will have an ax to grind,” she said.

She and the others praised Spitzer for initiatives he’s launched since taking office, such as expanding the mental health and recidivism unit, as well as the veterans treatment court, which looks at providing additional services and support in select cases. He’s also directed more resources to address juvenile justice, they said.

“At the end of the day, he has a huge heart and cares about his office and its employees,” Costello said.

Todd Spitzer (center) gives the thumbs-up at his campaign headquarters in Santa Ana as election results showed he had closed the gap against his rival, incumbent district attorney Tony Rackauckas, in November 2018.

Questions about how politics have influenced investigative decisions began three days after Spitzer won the election for district attorney on Nov. 6, 2018, when Damon Tucker, an investigator within the office who suspected Spitzer of corruption, was suddenly removed from an internal inquiry. But Tucker continued to check on the inquiry, calling the new investigator on the case, according to an arbitrator’s report. At one point, he called a friend at a local police department to ask about the investigation, prompting accusations that he’d overstepped his duties in pursuing a “vendetta” against Spitzer.

In a scathing four-page memo obtained by BuzzFeed News, Spitzer called the entire incident an “accidental and completely unintentional exchange” and then blasted the accounts of his own investigator and two supervisors, calling their accounts of what happened “misleading,” “aggressive,” “biased,” and “agenda driven.”

For others who had direct knowledge about how the review was conducted, it wasn’t a surprise.

Orange County District Attorney Todd Spitzer Gratuitous use of the N-Word !

Todd Spitzer is a disgusting racist that pretends to be caring and sympathetic yet uses the real N-Word not the abbreviated form

District Attorney Todd Spitzer is a Racist using the N-Word Gratuitously. he protrays this as he is “Just reading what the type says” but when anyone reads the N-word and we truly are not racist it is impossible to say the really word itself. also he is quite conscious of the use of the word…… HE CHECKS FOR CHILDREN 1ST !!! What the F$%K? he is quite conscious the words is very wrong to say he is also quick to make sure there are no AFRICAN AMERICANS AND CHILDREN PRESENT before the use demonstrates a conscious knowledge of how wrong it was. All instructors and teachers in any community when confronted with having to use the N-word never actually say the true word like HE DID, especially as a WHITE MALE! what us white men do when confronted with having to discus a topic that uses such horrid words a true dignified indvidiual would never use the real word and only mention it by its abbreviated form which is “N-WORD” we would never say the real thing much less look for kids and blacks first! that is the sign that you grew up with RACIST WHITES THAT COMMONLY TALKED THIS WAY! HE ALSO COMMENTS ON BLACK MEN MARRYING WHITES TO MOVE UP! NICE GUY HE IS

OC DA uses the N-Word Gratuitously in front of another minority, checks first for kids though

Posted by Vanguard Administrator source

Dear Attorney General Bonta,

The ACLU Foundation of Southern California and the undersigned organizations request that you exercise your authority pursuant to CA Civ. Code sec. 52.3 and initiate a pattern or practice investigation into the Orange County District Attorney’s Office (OCDA). Over the last several decades, the OCDA has been embroiled in controversies that have illuminated injustices
within the county’s criminal legal system.¹ 

The OCDA’s latest scandal involves the head of the office, District Attorney Todd Spitzer. Specifically, it has been reported that DA Spitzer made racist statements during a closed-door case strategy discussion with high-ranking prosecutors.² This controversy serves as just the latest confirmation of what has been apparent for years: the policies and practices of the OCDA are stained by systemic racism and bias that produce measurable harms against Black and Brown people in Orange County.

The OCDA has demonstrated a historical commitment to upholding systems of power that oppress people of color throughout Orange County. The recently published report “In(justice) in Orange County: A Case for Change and Accountability” analyzes the disparate impact of OCDA policies and practices on communities of color.³ In Orange County, Black people are overrepresented among individuals charged with a crime. Black residents represent just over 2 percent of the county’s total population yet make up nearly 6 percent of the people charged by the OCDA.⁴ Black residents are more likely to be criminally charged and face jail or prison time for low-level divertible offenses than members of any other racial group. The report indicates that there are persistent racial disparities in access to diversion programs in Orange County.⁵ Whether revealed by the brazen racial disparities in the office’s charging, sentencing, and diversion practices, its criminalization of homelessness,⁶ or by its well-documented failure to seek charges against police officers who kill people of color,⁷ there is ample evidence that systemic racism is deeply ingrained within the policies and practices of the OCDA.

The OCDA’s recent controversy suggests a culture in which prosecutorial decisions, practices, and policies rooted in racism are not only accepted within the office but are modeled explicitly from the top down. DA Spitzer’s alleged disclosure to his colleagues that “he knows many Black people who get themselves out of their bad circumstances and situations by dating white women” is not only an example of an individual prosecution tainted by racial bias, it suggests a broader pattern of racially biased prosecutions by the OCDA against Black people and other individuals of color under DA Spitzer’s leadership.

Additionally, DA Spitzer’s alleged statements implicate AB 2542, also known as the California Racial Justice Act (CRJA). The CRJA was developed as a legislative mechanism to mitigate exactly the type of racial bias and animus evidenced here—that which “undermines public confidence in the fairness of the state’s system of justice and deprives Californians of equal justice under law.”⁸ As the California Legislature stated in section 2(g) of the CRJA, “In California… we can no longer accept racial discrimination and racial disparities as inevitable in our criminal justice system and we must act to make clear that this discrimination and these disparities are illegal and will not be tolerated in California, both prospectively and retroactively.”

Under Article V, Section 13 of the California Constitution and California Civil Code Section 52.3, the Attorney General holds the authority to oversee and authorize civil investigations into a district attorney’s office that has engaged in a pattern or practice of violating state or federal law. Accordingly, we call upon the Office of the Attorney General and the California Department of Justice to further investigate systemic and institutional racism within the policies and practices of the OCDA. In presenting this request, ACLU Foundation of Southern California joins coalition partners and residents of color in Orange County who continue to suffer due to the historical malfeasance of the OCDA, and who demand accountability and transparency.

As the California Court of Appeals opined in 2016, “The magnitude of the systemic problems [in the OCDA] cannot be overlooked.”⁹ Today, we ask that the Attorney General and the California Department of Justice not overlook evidence of glaring systemic racism embedded within the policies and practices of the OCDA. We request that you take this crucial first step in addressing the immense damage inflicted by the OCDA upon Black and Brown residents throughout Orange County.

Sincerely,

• ACLU Foundation of Southern California ACLU Foundation of Northern California Chispa OC
• Clergy and Laity United for Economic Justice (CLUE) HB Huddle Peace and Justice Team
• Housing is a Human Right, Orange County (HHROC) Law Enforcement Accountability Network (LEAN)
• Los Angeles County Public Defenders Union – Local 148 Muslim Anti-Racism Collaborative (MuslimARC) National Action Network Orange County
• Orange County Emergency Response Coalition Orange County Justice Initiative
• People’s Budget Orange County Stop The Musick Coalition
• The Orange County Rapid Response Network The Peace and Justice Law Center Transforming Justice Orange County
• United Communities for Peace

Posted by Darling Gonzalez source

ORANGE COUNTY, CA – Orange County District Attorney candidate Pete Hardin reported on multiple injustices in the OC DA’s office, using a recent ACLU report demonstrating lack of transparency, racial disparities, and low police accountability.

The ACLU report, entitled “In(Justice) in Orange County—A Case for Change and Accountability,” details a lack of transparency with current OC DA Todd Spitzer and key evidence demonstrating lack of improvement in the office.

After the ACLU requested charging data from the OC DA’s office, DA Spitzer denied the release of data from his tenure and instead only provided Spitzer’s predecessor Tony Rackauckas’ data.

However, the ACLU obtained Superior Court records from 2019 and 2020 through the Voice of OC and provided data demonstrating that low-level offenses were the most common charges and showed key disparities in the OC DA’s charging practices.

“There were persistent racial disparities across the OCDA’s Office’s charging practices, and Black people were more likely to be charged with a crime, more likely to be charged with a felony, and more likely to be negatively impacted by discretionary charging practices related to wobblers, enhancements, and diversion than white people,” the ACLU report noted.

The ACLU’s report has recommended for the OC DA’s office to improve on these injustices by listing key improvements to internal policies in the office.

These internal policy recommendations include filing wobbler charges as misdemeanors and “eliminating the use of sentence enhancements, which are a major contributor of extreme sentencing and racial disparities.”

Under “Police Accountability,” the ACLU commented, “Even when publicly available information suggests gross police misconduct, the OCDA’s Office declined to file charges in every instance,” after reviewing the 24 police shootings between 2019 and 2020.

The ACLU also recommended that certain actions be taken by the OC DA’s office, including the creation of an independent office that can investigate and hold police accountable for their illegal conduct.

Although the ACLU’s report details plenty of the racial disparities and injustices in Orange County’s DA’s office, Hardin’s statement alleges racist remarks made by DA Spitzer and refers to an article in the Los Angeles Times titled, “O.C. DA. made racist comments in the case of Black defendant, former colleague alleges.”

The story notes that, while discussing the case of a Black man, Jamon Buggs, former prosecutor Ebrahim Baytieh claimed that DA Spritzer had said that he knew “many Black people who get themselves out of their bad circumstances and bad situations by only dating white women.”

The Times story includes a response made by DA Spitzer where he explains to The Times that Baytieh’s claim was incorrect and clarified that his comment said that Black men date white women “to improve their stature in the community.”

Hardin noted that Spitzer has been involved in an evidence booking scandal, a jailhouse informant scandal, and has defamed a victim of OC’s deadliest mass shooting.

According to Hardin’s press release, there is a changing electorate with Democrats now outnumbering Republicans in Orange County, with a 4.1% voter advantage.

BY JAMES QUEALLY STAFF WRITER 

Nearly five years have passed since a lawyer representing the man who slaughtered eight people inside a Seal Beach salon first raised questions about the way investigators used informants inside Orange County’s jails.

The accusation — that sheriff’s deputies planted a prolific snitch in the cell of confessed killer Scott Dekraai in the hopes of eliciting information without his lawyer present, and then covered up their unconstitutional actions — seemed outlandish at the time. But jailhouse records soon proved otherwise, and the Orange County district attorney’s office and Sheriff’s Department found themselves embroiled in a national scandal.

The state attorney general’s office opened an investigation into both agencies in 2015; the U.S. Department of Justice followed suit the next year. Orange County prosecutors were kicked off Dekraai’s case, and a judge cited the informant scheme in sparing him a place on California’s death row. The American Civil Liberties Union filed a lawsuit accusing authorities of having deployed “professional” informants for decades.