Looks like Orange County prosecutors are in even hotter water.
The Orange County District Attorney's office has been under fire recently after countless instances of rampant misconduct. Now, some members of the legal community are taking their concerns a step further.
Over three dozen lawyers, professors, elected officials, and other leaders have asked Attorney General Loretta E. Lynch to investigate the "compelling evidence of pervasive police and prosecutorial misconduct" in Orange County. From OC Weekly:
"We write to urge the Department of Justice to initiate an investigation into the actions of the Orange County Sheriff's Department (OCSD) and the District Attorney's Office (OCDA) in connection with the use of jailhouse informants and the concealment of informant-related evidence," wrote signatories Erwin Chemerinksy, dean of the UC Irvine School of Law; and former California Attorney General and Los Angeles District Attorney John Van de Kamp.
Others joining in the sentiment of the communication include Harvard legal theorist Charles Ogletree, criminal justice professor Angela Davis, former Los Angeles District Attorney Gil Garcetti, former Chief Assistant United States Attorney Richard Drooyan and Alex Whiting, a Harvard professor and former prosecutor of international crimes at the Hague as well as the American Civil Liberties Union and the Constitution Project.
The Orange County DA's office is currently being assessed by a reform group. But the letter to Attorney General Lynch says that the "previously chosen reform group handed picked by District Attorney Tony Rackauckas can't be trusted given the DA's continual controversial insistence that there is no evidence of any wrongdoing by law enforcement officials."
The letter is sixteen pages and includes records, news stories, and court rulings to demonstrate the rampant misconduct in Orange County. According to the group, their goal is to "restore public confidence in the criminal justice system in Orange County."