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Thread: Scott Evans Dekraai Sentenced to LWOP in 2011 CA Murders of Eight

  1. #21
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    D.A. won't use jailhouse recordings in Seal Beach mass-murder case

    By Paloma Esquivel
    The Los Angeles Times

    Orange County prosecutors have ended their quest to use recorded conversations between the alleged Seal Beach mass killer and a jailhouse informant, which they had hoped could put the man on death row.

    Senior Deputy Dist. Atty. Howard Gundy told the court Tuesday he would concede a defense motion which argued that tapes of alleged gunman Scott Dekraai and informant Fernando Perez were obtained in violation of Dekraai’s 6th amendment rights.

    The recordings spurred a wide-ranging defense investigation into the use of jailhouse informants in Orange County.

    The investigation has resulted in an ongoing hearing over allegations that, in Dekraai and other cases, informants were unconstitutionally deployed to gather information on defendants and information routinely withheld from defense attorneys.

    During the hearing, Dekraai’s prosecutor, Assistant Dist. Atty. Dan Wagner, conceded that his office has failed to disclose information, including evidence gathered by informants, to defense attorneys in multiple cases—a revelation that could potentially lead to new trials for some convicted criminals.

    Prosecutors have blamed any errors on their own failures to understand case law regarding disclosure and informants, lack of transparency from federal agents and large caseloads.

    Defense attorneys say prosecutors show a pattern of misconduct so egregious that, in addition to throwing out the recordings, the court should dismiss the death penalty and recuse the district attorney’s office from the Seal Beach mass killing case.

    The court has spent several weeks vetting the misconduct allegations with testimony from prosecutors, investigators and jailhouse informants. On Tuesday, Deputy Dist. Atty. Erik Petersen, who handled cases in which evidence has not been turned over, took the stand.

    After making his concession, Gundy argued that the scope of the hearing should now be focused on the actions of prosecutors in the Dekraai case rather exploring the role of informants in other cases.

    Superior Court Judge Thomas Goethals indicated he was inclined to continue hearing from witnesses.

    “We’re going to follow the evidence in this case wherever it leads,” he said.

    To protect the constitutional rights of suspects, courts have ruled that informants working as government agents cannot deliberately elicit statements from defendants after charges have been filed.

    In Dekraai’s case, a bug was installed in his cell after Perez came forward to say the alleged gunman had been talking to him. In parts of the 132 hours of recordings, prosecutors said, Dekraai can be heard talking about the shootings.

    Prosecutors initially declined to hand over information about Perez's informant background.

    After the judge ordered them to do so, defense attorneys learned that Perez was a prolific jailhouse snitch who had gathered information on multiple inmates, including two other death penalty defendants.

    During the hearing, Perez insisted he did not try to get information from fellow inmates. He also acknowledged lying multiple times, including under oath, in his own case.

    A ruling on the remaining motions is expected before the start of Dekraai's trial, which is set to begin June 9.

    http://www.latimes.com/local/lanow/l...#ixzz2zhZmNDk0

  2. #22
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    Attorney hints Dekraai guilty plea may come next week

    The attorney for Scott Dekraai hinted in court Friday that his client is considering pleading guilty next week to eight counts of murder in Orange County’s deadliest mass shooting.

    Such a plea would keep the death penalty a possibility but eliminate the need for a trial to decide Dekraai’s guilt in the Oct. 12, 2011, massacre at a Seal Beach salon.

    “We intend to have a definitive answer for the victims’ families on Monday,” Deputy Public Defender Scott Sanders said in an interview Friday night.

    Sanders did not elaborate and did not say explicitly in court that Dekraai was considering a guilty plea. But Dekraai, 44, has previously offered to plead guilty and accept eight consecutive life sentences if prosecutors drop the death penalty, a deal the Orange County District Attorney’s Office rejected.

    In an email to victims’ families late Friday, prosecutors said there was a “strong possibility” that by Monday or Tuesday “a major development that might be welcome news to many of you will take place regarding the guilt phase of our case.”

    Some families reacted with cautious relief to the possibility of a guilty plea that would spare them from days of reliving the crime in court. But Paul Wilson, whose wife, Christy, was killed inside Salon Meritage, said he won’t believe it until he hears the word “guilty.”

    “Until I stand in that courtroom and hear those words spoken, I’ll not take anything to the bank,” he said.

    Wilson heard the news of a possible plea on the same day he sold his wife’s black 2006 Cadillac Escalade.

    “It was the last thing I was holding on to,” he said. “It killed me. It is still killing me.”

    A plea would mean the parents of Dekraai’s ex-wife. Michelle Fournier, the first victim in the massacre, wouldn’t have to travel from New York for a trial scheduled to start June 9.

    “That’s great as far as I am concerned,” said Fournier’s brother, Butch Fournier, of Cypress. “Anything to keep me out of court.”

    A guilty plea by Dekraai or a jury conviction would bring him the same sense of peace, said Fournier, whose sister would have turned 51 on March 30.

    Paul Caouette, of Costa Mesa, whose father, David ,was killed as he sat in his car outside the salon, said he would “absolutely … love to see (Dekraai) plead guilty.”

    “I am all for it because I don’t think there’s a real question in anyone’s mind that he’s guilty or not,” said Caouette, adding that ongoing hearings stemming from motions filed by Dekraai’s lawyers are “so draining on everyone.”

    Paul Wilson said a guilty plea would shorten the process and be “a big load off of us.” But Dekraai, he said, is “still a coward to me at the end of the day.”

    http://www.ocregister.com/articles/d...ilty-plea.html
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  3. #23
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    Lawyer: Man will plead guilty to killing 8 in California salon shooting rampage in 2011

    SANTA ANA, Calif. – A defense lawyer says a California man accused of shooting and killing his ex-wife and seven other people at a hair salon has agreed to plead guilty.

    Defense lawyer Scott Sanders told an Orange County court on Monday that 44-year-old Scott Dekraai (deh-CRY) would enter the plea.

    Authorities say Dekraai shot his ex-wife, a hairdresser at Salon Meritage, before killing the Seal Beach salon's owner and six others in 2011.

    He had been locked in a custody dispute over their 8-year-old son before police say he strapped on a bulletproof vest, took three guns and entered the salon.

    Dekraai had previously offered to plead guilty in exchange for multiple life sentences but prosecutors refused to drop the death penalty from consideration.

    http://www.foxnews.com/us/2014/04/28...oting-rampage/
    "I realize this may sound harsh, but as a father and former lawman, I really don't care if it's by lethal injection, by the electric chair, firing squad, hanging, the guillotine or being fed to the lions."
    - Oklahoma Rep. Mike Christian

    "There are some people who just do not deserve to live,"
    - Rev. Richard Hawke

    “There are lots of extremely smug and self-satisfied people in what would be deemed lower down in society, who also deserve to be pulled up. In a proper free society, you should be allowed to make jokes about absolutely anything.”
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  4. #24
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    Scott Dekraai pleads guilty to 2011 Seal Beach salon massacre, prosecutors plan to seek death penalty

    A man pleaded guilty Friday to killing his ex-wife and seven others in a shooting rampage at a California hair salon in 2011.

    Scott Dekraai, 44, a former tugboat operator, entered his pleas to eight counts of murder and one count of attempted murder with special circumstances and enhancements in Orange County Superior Court.

    Prosecutors have said they will seek the death penalty.

    Dekraai’s lawyer says his client entered the pleas to spare victims’ relatives from sitting through a trial. However, he said Dekraai will fight to keep from being sentenced to death.

    Dekraai donned a bulletproof vest before heading to the Seal Beach salon where his ex-wife worked as a stylist in October 2011. Authorities said he shot and killed Michelle Fournier before turning his gun on the salon’s owner and spraying Salon Meritage with bullets.

    After leaving the building, Dekraai shot and killed a man who was sitting in his car in a parking lot, authorities said.

    Police arrested Dekraai, who had been locked in a bitter custody dispute with Fournier over their 8-year-old son, within minutes.

    “’I know what I did,’” he told an arresting officer, according to a police affidavit.

    The salon reopened about a year later, with six of the original employees returning to work.

    Since the shootings, victims’ relatives have pleaded with the judge at numerous hearings to hasten the case to trial. In March, Judge Thomas M. Goethals severed the guilt and penalty phases to prevent additional delays as Dekraai’s lawyer Scott Sanders argues motions related to prosecutors’ efforts to seek the death penalty.

    Sanders wants the district attorney’s office recused from Dekraai’s case and the death penalty taken off the table over allegations that authorities misused jailhouse informants and didn’t turn over evidence to defense attorneys. Prosecutors have denied the claims.

    http://www.dailynews.com/general-new...-death-penalty
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  5. #25
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    Attorneys seek to expand hearing in Seal Beach mass shooting case

    A defense attorney who has alleged a wide-ranging conspiracy to violate the constitutional rights of Orange County defendants, including the man guilty of the worst mass killing in the county’s history, wants to broaden his probe while prosecutors told a judge overseeing an evidentiary hearing that enough is enough.

    Senior Deputy District Attorney Howard Gundy implored Orange County Superior Court Judge Thomas Goethals Monday to cut short the hearing, which has lingered on and off again since March, and make a ruling on Scott Dekraai’s allegations, through his attorneys, of outrageous governmental misconduct.

    The conflict stems from the use of a jailhouse snitch to question Dekraai after his arrest for the massacre in Seal Beach that killed eight and nearly claimed a ninth victim.

    “We are now so far afield of Scott Dekraai it’s just unbelievable,” Gundy said.

    Gundy ridiculed the allegations from Dekraai’s attorneys as a “very rickety conspiracy,” and he insisted there’s “no evidence of a conspiracy” in the Dekraai case.

    “It’s a complete fabrication,” Gundy said.

    A jailhouse informant’s placement next to Dekraai was a “complete coincidence,” Gundy said.

    Goethals said he was “a little skeptical of coincidences,” but did not elaborate.

    Dekraai’s attorney, Scott Sanders of the Orange County Public Defender’s Office, thinks otherwise and wants Goethals to allow him to have two more prosecutors and sheriff’s officials testify in the case.

    On Thursday, in what is considered a highly unusual move, Goethals is allowing Sanders to cross-examine former federal prosecutor and now Orange County Superior Court Judge Terri Flynn-Peister.

    Gundy also denied Sanders’ allegation that there were violations involving the handing over of evidence to defense attorneys in the Dekraai case. Putting the jailhouse informant within reach of Dekraai to question him could be a violation of the defendant’s Sixth Amendment rights, Sanders has argued.

    Sanders said he would like to question two extra witnesses about what he suspects is systemic abuse on the part of prosecutors and sheriff’s officials of jailhouse informants.

    “The real issue here is how the special handling unit and the District Attorney’s Office deals with evidence that is not in their favor,” Sanders told Goethals.

    Sanders ultimately wants Goethals to take the Orange County District Attorney’s Office off the prosecution of Dekraai or to punish the District Attorney’s Office by not allowing it to pursue the death penalty against his client.

    The dispute has spilled over into another death penalty case. Attorneys for Richard Raymond Ramirez are seeking information about the use of another jailhouse informant, Alex Frosio, and a different judge is set to discuss that on Friday.

    In both Dekraai’s and Ramirez’s case, the two defendants have been convicted so the only issue is whether they would be sent to Death Row.

    Senior Deputy District Attorney Larry Yellin was angered by allegations that he did not comply with his obligations to turn over evidence to defense attorneys, known in court terms as a Brady violation.

    “That’s not how I do business,” Yellin told City News Service.

    Yellin said he sent an investigator to speak with Frosio when it was brought to his attention that the informant had spoken with Ramirez and wanted to help prosecutors.

    “We specifically asked him about notes, did you take notes on Ramirez,” Yellin said, adding Frosio denied taking any notes about his discussions with Ramirez, but then changed his mind and said he had.

    That led Yellin to believe Frosio was lying and untrustworthy. The prosecutor has no interest in having Frosio testify.

    Ramirez was convicted in March 1985 of first-degree murder and sex counts and was sentenced to death in July 1985. However, U.S. District Judge Consuelo Marshall overturned the conviction, because the jury foreman failed to notify the court that he had applied for a job with the FBI -- a position he was hired for months after the trial.

    Last June, Froeberg declared a mistrial when jurors said they were split 7-5 in favor of the death penalty.

    In Sanders’ most recent motion in the Dekraai case he alleges Frosio was used to testify before a grand jury in an unrelated case, which resulted in an indictment, but that the notes Frosio took were never turned over to defense attorneys.

    Dekraai pleaded guilty to eight counts of murder and a count of attempted murder in May. The penalty phase of his trial is scheduled for August.

    http://www.presstelegram.com/general...-shooting-case
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  6. #26
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    Judge testifies in Orange County jailhouse informants hearing

    An Orange County judge testified Thursday in a months-long hearing over allegations that the government misused jailhouse informants and hid evidence from gang crime and murder suspects.

    Superior Court Judge Terri Flynn-Peister testified Thursday about her previous work as a federal prosecutor and instructions she gave gang task force agents about handling information culled from informants.

    The testimony comes in the case of a man who killed eight people at a hair salon. Scott Dekraai pleaded guilty but assistant public defender Scott Sanders wants to recuse the district attorney over misconduct allegations.

    The hearing has touched on other cases and led one man's murder conviction to be vacated.

    Senior Deputy District Attorney Howard Gundy says there was no conspiracy and federal authorities impeded the release of information to state prosecutors.

    http://www.scpr.org/news/2014/06/26/...house-informa/
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  7. #27
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    After federal ruling, Dekraai defense seeks to bar death penalty

    BY ERIC HARTLEY
    THE ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER

    A week after a federal judge ruled California’s death penalty system unconstitutional, lawyers for Orange County’s worst-ever mass killer are trying to put that ruling to the test.

    Attorneys for Scott Dekraai, who admitted killing eight people at a Seal Beach salon in 2011, filed a motion Wednesday asking an Orange County Superior Court judge to bar the death penalty and immediately sentence Dekraai to life without possibility of parole.

    The brief motion cites the July 16 order by U.S. District Judge Cormac Carney, who overturned a death sentence for Ernest Dewayne Jones, a man convicted in a 1995 Los Angeles murder.

    Carney wrote that the decades of delays and tiny number of executions make the state’s current system “dysfunctional” and arbitrary, meaning a death sentence violates the Eighth Amendment’s ban on cruel and unusual punishment.

    One of Dekraai’s lawyers, Assistant Public Defender Scott Sanders, echoed Carney in arguing the chance of someone being executed is so small the death penalty serves no legitimate purpose either as retribution or as deterrent.

    “Killing people at random for no penological reason, as California demonstrably does, is unquestionably cruel and unusual punishment,” Sanders wrote.

    He will seek to argue the motion in court Friday, when lawyers are already scheduled to spend several hours making final arguments on Sanders’ separate allegations of widespread prosecutorial misconduct.

    Dekraai pleaded guilty to the murders in May, so the only issue remaining is his punishment.

    Since January, Sanders and colleague Lisa Kopelman have been seeking to bar the death penalty on different grounds, arguing that Dekraai can’t receive a fair penalty hearing before a jury because the District Attorney’s Office has repeatedly withheld evidence that would help defendants’ cases.

    In a court filing Wednesday, prosecutors admitted “some errors,” including failing to turn over evidence in other cases, but denied any misconduct and said Dekraai’s rights haven’t been harmed. Dekraai’s defense is also asking a judge to kick the D.A.’s Office off his case and have the state attorney general prosecute.

    Superior Court Judge Thomas Goethals could decline to let Sanders argue his new death penalty motion this week. It was filed late Wednesday, and prosecutors have little time to respond before Friday morning’s hearing.

    The federal ruling is not binding on Goethals, a state judge, but Dekraai’s lawyers urged him to adopt the same logic. Meanwhile, Carney’s order will face review by a federal appeals court and possibly the U.S. Supreme Court. Only if it’s upheld on appeal will it apply to any case beyond Jones’.

    And Carney’s ruling has little immediate consequence: California hasn’t executed anyone since 2006.

    http://www.ocregister.com/articles/d...h-penalty.html
    "I realize this may sound harsh, but as a father and former lawman, I really don't care if it's by lethal injection, by the electric chair, firing squad, hanging, the guillotine or being fed to the lions."
    - Oklahoma Rep. Mike Christian

    "There are some people who just do not deserve to live,"
    - Rev. Richard Hawke

    “There are lots of extremely smug and self-satisfied people in what would be deemed lower down in society, who also deserve to be pulled up. In a proper free society, you should be allowed to make jokes about absolutely anything.”
    - Rowan Atkinson

  8. #28
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    A number of criminal cases will be appearing in court in the coming weeks that may interest our readers. Here is a summary based on information from the Orange County District Attorney.

    Scott Evans Dekraai, due in court on Aug. 18 for the penalty phase after pleading guilty earlier this year


    On the morning of Oct. 12, 2011, Dekraai is accused of getting into a verbal argument on the phone with his ex-wife, 48-year-old Michelle Marie Fournier, over a custody dispute regarding their 8-year-old son. At approximately 1:20 p.m. on Oct. 12, 2011, Dekraai is accused of entering Salon Meritage, located on the 500 block of Pacific Coast Highway in Seal Beach, where his ex-wife worked as a hair stylist. The defendant is accused of wearing a bullet-proof vest under his clothing and arming himself with three firearms and walking into the salon with the intention of murdering his ex-wife and other people who may have been present. Approx. 15 people were inside at the time. At 1:21 p.m. Dekraai is accused of walking through the salon and executing employees and customers at random, as well as Fournier, by shooting them at close range in the head and chest. He is accused of shooting several of the victims multiple times with the shooting lasting approximately two minutes. The other people inside the salon attempted to escape by hiding, locking themselves in private treatment rooms, or running outside. Dekraai is accused of shooting eight people inside the salon. Six of the eight victims inside the salon were pronounced dead at the scene. Three victims were transported to the hospital where two were pronounced dead shortly thereafter. Victim Harriet Stretz, 73, Los Alamitos, was in critical condition. She was a salon client having her hair done by her daughter, victim Elody. The seven murdered victims from inside the salon include (in alphabetical order): Victoria Ann Buzzo, 54, Laguna Beach, salon employee; Laura Lee Elody, 46, Huntington Beach, salon employee; Randy Lee Fannin, 62, Murrieta, salon owner; Michele Daschbach Fast, 47, Seal Beach, salon client; Michelle Marie Fournier, 48, Los Alamitos, salon employee; Lucia Bernice Kondas, 65, Huntington Beach, salon client; and Christy Lynn Wilson, 47, Lakewood, salon employee. Dekraai is accused of walking out of the salon and headed towards his truck to flee the scene, the defendant is accused of observing a dark sport utility vehicle parked nearby with a male seated in the driver’s seat. Dekraai is accused of approaching the victim, who was alone in his car, and executing him by shooting him in the head through the closed front passenger side window. This victim was David Caouette, 64, Seal Beach. An SBPD officer, who was nearby in the neighborhood, was the first to arrive at the scene in response to a 911 call from a person in the restaurant next door to the salon. Witnesses pointed the officer to the defendant’s vehicle as Dekraai attempted to drive away. SBPD dispatch received information from the 911 caller at 1:25:36 p.m. that the defendant was driving away from the scene. At 1:26:07 p.m., only 30 seconds later, the defendant was stopped by SBPD in an emergency traffic stop. Officers from SBPD yelled for the defendant to exit his vehicle with their guns drawn. At the time of his arrest, Dekraai is accused of being in possession of the three firearms and a significant amount of ammunition in his truck. Dekraai was booked at the Seal Beach City Jail and was later transported to the Orange County Jail.

    http://www.oc-breeze.com/2014/08/03/...-sunday-aug-3/
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  9. #29
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    Judge: Death penalty not out in salon killings

    A Southern California judge on Monday refused to order the district attorney's office to recuse itself or take the death penalty off the table in the case of a man who admitted killing eight people at an Orange County hair salon.

    In a ruling that comes after weeks of hearings on the district attorney's use of jailhouse informants, Judge Thomas M. Goethals acknowledged misconduct from prosecutors.

    But the judge said it did not warrant the two requests from Scott Dekraai's attorney: the disqualification of the district attorney in the case and the removal of the death penalty from consideration. Dekraai, 44, pleaded guilty but has yet to be sentenced.

    The judge said the proper remedy was to exclude the use of in-custody statements by Dekraai, something prosecutors already agreed to do.

    The allegations by Dekraai's lawyer touched on a host of murder and gang crime cases that were being watched closely by defense attorneys wondering whether their clients were improperly interviewed by jailhouse informants or denied access to evidence. Since Assistant Public Defender Scott Sanders filed the allegations this year, one suspect saw his conviction vacated.

    Sanders contended that prosecutors and sheriff's deputies in the traditionally conservative county used informants to glean information from murder and gang crime suspects in violation of their constitutional rights and didn't turn over required evidence to defense lawyers.

    "There has been a demonstrative inability by the OCDA to proceed impartially and in a manner that protects Dekraai's right to a fair trial," Sanders wrote in court papers.

    A sentencing hearing is set for Aug. 18 for Dekraai, who pleaded guilty in May to killing eight people, including his ex-wife, in a shooting rampage at a Seal Beach hair salon in 2011. At a minimum, he will spend the rest of his life in prison.

    http://www.fresnobee.com/2014/08/04/...#storylink=cpy
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  10. #30
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    Dekraai trying again to escape death penalty

    By PAUL ANDERSON
    THE ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER

    SANTA ANA – The man responsible for the worst mass killing in Orange County history has revived his legal battle to escape the death penalty, with allegations that Orange County sheriff's investigators lied under oath about violating his constitutional rights.

    Scott Evans Dekraai lost his initial battle to avoid the ultimate punishment following a months-long hearing that explored his attorney's allegations that deputies and prosecutors engaged in a conspiracy to use jailhouse informants to illegally fish for damning information on a variety of inmates housed in Orange County's jails.

    Dekraai also wanted the judge to boot the Orange County District Attorney's Office from his case.

    Although Orange County Superior Court Judge Thomas Goethals found that misconduct had occurred, he only ruled that prosecutors could not use some of Dekraai's statements to a jailhouse informant during the penalty phase of his trial.

    Dekraai pleaded guilty earlier this year to killing his ex-wife and seven other people in and around a Seal Beach beauty salon on Oct. 12, 2011, triggering the still-pending penalty phase.

    Goethals ruled the misconduct was more a result of negligence than a criminal conspiracy as alleged by Dekraai's attorney. Assistant Public Defender Scott Sanders, however, has filed a new motion asking Goethals to reconsider his ruling on the death penalty.

    Sanders is now alleging that some sheriff's investigators assigned to a Special Handling Unit perjured themselves during the evidentiary hearing on Dekraai's earlier claims about jailhouse informants. The investigators lied when they said they did not have control over which jail cell should house defendants, Sanders alleges.

    The case has already led to the release of a man charged in two gang-related killings, a retrial for another murder defendant, and dropped charges of attempted murder and solicitation of murder against another man.

    In the motion filed Friday, Sanders alleges prosecutors and sheriff's investigators “engage in a systematic and ongoing processes of concealing evidence favorable to the defense and of stonewalling judicial processes.”

    Sanders also alleges that prosecutors have withheld evidence from defense attorneys and cited two cases involving Senior Deputy District Attorney Larry Yellin. One of those cases — against Richard Raymond Ramirez — is in the penalty phase, with jurors considering whether to recommend death or life in prison without parole for the defendant, who was convicted of the 1983 rape-murder of a woman in Garden Grove.

    The other case involves Nuzzio Begaren, who was sentenced in May to 25 years to life in prison for participating in the murder of his wife, who worked as a state corrections officer.

    Sanders alleges Yellin did not tell Begaren's attorney of a plea deal for a co-defendant, Rudy Duran, who provided key testimony against Begaren and is expected to plead guilty to voluntary manslaughter.

    Sanders also takes aim at Orange County Sheriff Sandra Hutchens for telling City News Service that her office had reviewed its policies in the wake of the allegations about jailhouse informants, but had found no wrongdoing. Sanders said there is no evidence her department reviewed the special handling unit.

    Sheriff's investigators testified during the evidentiary hearing earlier this year that they had no control over the movements of inmates in the jails, but Sanders said recently obtained evidence proves otherwise.

    Goethals found that one jailhouse informant, who caught Dekraai bragging about his crimes, was coincidentally placed next to the mass killer by a nurse, not investigators.

    The informant — Fernando Perez — would be allowed to pass on unsolicited information he had heard, but it would be illegal for him to question Dekraai, since he had an attorney.

    Prosecutors have asked for more time to file a reply brief to Sanders' motion, but officials told CNS on Wednesday that there's no evidence of a conspiracy.

    Part of what triggered the new round of allegations involves Assistant District Attorney Dan Wagner — head of the homicide unit — receiving what appeared to be confidential psychiatric reports on Dekraai that he legally was not allowed to see. Wagner told CNS that he apparently received the information by mistake and immediately alerted Sanders and Goethals.

    Susan Kang Schroeder, chief of staff for Orange County District Attorney Tony Rackauckas, said such bureaucratic mix-ups are not uncommon.

    Sheriff's Lt. Jeff Hallock said his boss is aware of the allegations of perjury.

    The evidentiary hearing earlier this year “showed some deficiencies in policies (in the handling of informants) and those have been addressed,” Hallock said.

    “Any suggestion that (sheriff's investigators) were inaccurate or lied in testimony is going to be taken seriously by this department,” Hallock said.

    http://www.ocregister.com/articles/s...-attorney.html

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