Federal civil rights officials have ended their oversight of the Orange County district attorney’s use of jailhouse informants, confident that the office has sufficiently reformed its practices.
The U.S. Department of Justice announced Tuesday, Dec. 23, that Orange County District Attorney Todd Spitzer has met the changes detailed in a January 2025 agreement. Many of the reforms were already underway when the pact was signed.
“We commend the District Attorney and his staff for their hard work that will ensure the integrity of criminal prosecutions in Orange County and public trust in the criminal justice system,” said Assistant Attorney General Harmeet K. Dhillon of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division.
A federal investigation initiated in 2016 found that prosecutors under former District Attorney Tony Rackauckas and sheriff’s deputies used jailhouse informants to gather incriminating statements from inmates represented by attorneys, in violation of their right to counsel under the Sixth Amendment.
Prosecutors then withheld evidence about the informant practice from defense attorneys, a violation of the 14th Amendment. The probe found that the illegal practices in what became known as the “snitch scandal” occurred from 2007 to 2016, although some defense attorneys maintain it started much earlier.
Spitzer unseated Rackauckas and took office in 2019 with the promise that prosecutors would no longer operate under a “win-at-all-costs” mentality. In a prepared statement, Spitzer said Tuesday that he worked with the civil rights department to ensure past violations were not repeated and that relief was provided to those whose rights had been violated.
In the case of Paul Gentile Smith, Spitzer successfully urged a judge in 2021 to overturn a decade old jury conviction in a Su www.ocregister.com/2022/10/13/oc-prosecutors-and-sheriffs-deputies-violated-rights-in-jailhouse-informant-scandal-doj-concludes/nset Beach murder and order a new trial because of violations involving jailhouse informants. Smith’s retrial is scheduled for February 2026.
“The collective efforts we have made within the District Attorney’s Office to restore trust and accountability to a system which at times seemed irreparably damaged have forged a path forward which safeguards the criminal system and ensures the fair administration of justice for all,” Spitzer said.
He noted that he initiated an internal investigation into the snitch scandal that resulted in the firing of one top-level prosecutor and the resignation/retirement of two others.
Among the changes made by Spitzer: cases involving claims of Sixth and 14th amendment violations are now reviewed by an integrity unit. Jailhouse informants cannot be used by prosecutors without Spitzer’s permission. Record-keeping processes have been improved on the use of informants to, among other things, make sure defense attorneys get the proper discovery. Prosecutors are now better coordinating their informant efforts with the Sheriff’s Department.
“The violation of a single defendant’s constitutional rights calls into question the fairness of the entire criminal justice system,” Spitzer said. “After nearly a decade of investigation by the Department of Justice, the ‘win at all costs mentality’ chapter of the prior administration can finally be closed once and for all, and the residents of Orange County can have confidence that transparency has replaced the shroud of darkness under which the criminal justice system was allowed to operate under the prior district attorney.”
Defense attorney Scott Sanders in 2017.(Photo by Jeff Gritchen, Orange County Register/SCNG)Former Assistant Public Defender Scott Sanders, who uncovered Orange County’s illegal use of informants in 2014 while defending mass killer Scott Dekraai, said the job is far from over.
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DOJ ends oversight of OC sheriff’s reforms in the use of jailhouse informants Prosecutors in Orange County snitch scandal were intentionally negligent, DA probe concludes OC prosecutors, sheriff’s deputies violated rights in jailhouse informant scandal, DOJ concludes Scott Dekraai, Orange County’s worst mass killer, gets life without parole for eight Seal Beach murders Public defender Scott Sanders, who upended OC’s legal landscape, retires after 32 years“The current DA administration has unquestionably been far better than its predecessor when it comes to these issues. But the scandal doesn’t end because a disinterested DOJ is ready to walk,” Sanders said. “There were prosecutors and officers who were willing to break the law to win, and many of the cases they impacted have still not been re-examined. If we fail to push forward, the moral responsibility will rest with all of the stakeholders in our criminal justice system.”
Dekraai is serving eight life sentences after a Superior Court judge took the death penalty off the table and booted the district attorney’s office from the case for informant violations.
The DOJ concluded a similar reform agreement with the Sheriff’s Department in July. Those reforms included additional training of jail personnel about the legal requirements involving informants, requiring the sheriff to approve the use of informants and a mandate that prosecutors be notified in writing “at the earliest possible time” when an informant is used by sheriff’s personnel.
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