Dozens of California deputies lied about booking evidence they collected, 2nd audit shows
Orange County’s district attorney, blindsided this week by results of an internal audit that showed widespread mishandling of evidence by deputies, is demanding answers from the county’s sheriff after learning a separate audit showed dozens of other deputies lied about booking the evidence they collected, The Sacramento Bee has learned.
The result, Orange County DA Todd Spitzer said, his office’s lawyers may have filed and prosecuted dozens of criminal charges based on deputies’ reports that falsely stated evidence had been booked in the California county of 3.2 million residents.
“I appreciate your understanding that the conduct that you brought forward through your own investigative efforts, which I commend, has now created significant legal and constitutional obligations on my department,” Spitzer wrote at the end of a blistering letter to Orange County Sheriff Don Barnes dated Nov. 21.
Friday’s revelations come days after the Orange County Register uncovered findings of a two-year audit of more than 98,000 reports that showed nearly 30 percent of all evidence collected by deputies was mishandled in violation of department policy; that nearly three-quarters of deputies filed evidence in six to 10 days instead of the end of a deputy’s shift per policy; and that some evidence was not booked for a month or longer. The audit, results of which were obtained by The Bee, spanned Feb. 1, 2016 to Feb. 1, 2018.
Four deputies lost their jobs; seven others were disciplined and 17 criminal investigations were sent to Spitzer’s office in its wake, but no criminal charges were filed.
But Spitzer’s Nov. 21 letter revealed results of a “secondary audit” of 450 cases and another bombshell: No evidence was booked in nearly half of the 121 reports where deputies said they had collected and booked evidence. In 57 of the reports, deputies failed to book a piece of evidence that they stated they had collected.
It was not known Saturday whether criminal charges would result from the secondary audit, as detailed in the letter.
Now Spitzer is demanding defendants’ names and case numbers, the dates criminal charges were filed; items of evidence that were not booked and how the cases were resolved. And, the letter indicates, he’s not willing to wait. Spitzer said his office will take information in segments to allow his office to notify defense counsel “as soon as possible.”
“In order to fulfill my legal and ethical obligations as District Attorney, I need to know which cases, if any, were filed by my office where (Orange County Sheriff’s Department) failed to book evidence after collecting it,” Spitzer wrote.
“My goal is to identify any and all cases handled by (Orange County District Attorney’s Office) where a defendant’s due process rights may have been negatively impacted by having evidence collected but not booked,” Spitzer wrote.
Orange County Sheriff’s spokeswoman Carrie Braun reached Friday evening said the department was immediately reserving comment on the letter, but said sheriff’s officials continue to work with DA officials regarding the audit’s findings.
The newest development adds to rapidly growing tension in the branches of Orange County law enforcement and in Southern California courtrooms where Orange County Public Defender’s officials say potentially thousands of cases could be in play.
Orange County Assistant Public Defender Scott Sanders obtained the audits and disclosed them in a Nov. 15 motion on behalf of Raymond Varelas.
Sanders alleged arresting Orange County deputies wrote false reports, hid evidence and trumped up charges against Valeras in July as payback because Varelas would not become their drug informant.
The audits “revealed that deputies routinely violate this policy, often at an astounding level,” Sanders said in the motion.
Varelas was arrested on drug charges in July by an Orange County deputy who told Varelas he’d forget about it if he agreed to buy narcotics as a drug informant, according to Orange Superior court records obtained by The Bee.
When Varelas declined, the deputy added a gang enhancement — a charge that could subject Varelas, a 59-year-old career criminal — to life in state prison. Sanders is asking for a Dec. 10 hearing on the motion in Orange Superior Court.
An angered Sanders on Friday said sheriff’s officials were apparently content to hide the audits from public view while Barnes was “applauding his department’s response to the problem” in a Monday news release after the Orange County Register had uncovered its findings of widespread abuse.
“It now seems abundantly clear that had we not found out about this through an independent source the Sheriff’s Department would have forever hidden the fact that evidence was missing from cases and withheld from defendants,” Sanders told The Bee via email.
“What makes this more abhorrent and deeply troubling is that after meeting with Mr. Spitzer, Sheriff Barnes issued a press release applauding his department’s response to the problem, while hiding entirely the fact there was a second audit with incredible implications for wrongful convictions,” Sanders said.
Barnes in the news release said his agency had taken “immediate measures” to educate personnel on evidence booking policy and procedure. He added the audits and the discipline that followed showed his department has “no patience for substandard performance or criminal behavior.”
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Darrell Smith covers courts and California news for The Sacramento Bee. He joined The Bee in 2006 and previously worked at newspapers in Palm Springs, Colorado Springs, Colo., and Marysville. A Sacramento Valley native, Smith was born and raised at Beale Air Force Base, near Marysville.
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