DA admits 'distressing' lack of disclosure to defense counsel about jail informants
As assistant public defender Scott Sanders fought to prevent a client from being sentenced to death in a California murder case, he asked about records of interactions between the Orange County Sheriff’s Department and jailhouse informants.
There were none, he was told. But that wasn’t true: Unbeknownst to higher-ups, deputies kept a log between 2008 and 2013, reports the Daily Pilot.
It came to light only when one deputy happened to show it to a sergeant in recent weeks, she testified in an unusual Tuesday hearing, under questioning by Sanders.
Sgt. Kirsten Monteleone and a commander said they had sent a department-wide memo and emailed some 300 current and former deputies earlier this year, after a cache of notes concerning a different case came to light and they were tasked with investigating to see if any other unknown material existed. Nothing was disclosed to them at that time, the newspaper reports.
Pushed by Sanders for an explanation of why the deputy who revealed the log hadn’t done so earlier, Monteleone said he hadn’t considered the material to fall within the category of requested notes. About 80 pages of material from the log have now been provided to Sanders.
Within hours of the Tuesday hearing, the Orange County district attorney released a written statement: “The OCDA finds it distressing that these notes would be withheld from the OCDA, the court and the public until this hearing. The OCDA has been assured by Sheriff Sandra Hutchens that she will take appropriate internal actions to address this issue.”
Meanwhile, the Sanders client whose case sparked the hearing, convicted double-murderer Daniel Patrick Wozniak, 31, is still awaiting his sentence, the Daily Pilot reports. A jury recommended the death penalty in January. Wozniak’s formal sentencing is scheduled later this month.
The Voice of OC also has a story.
Related coverage:
ABA Journal: “Secret Snitches: California case uncovers long-standing practice of planting jailhouse informants”
ABAJournal.com: “Report faults Orange County DA in jailhouse informant scandal”
ABAJournal.com: “Meet the California public defender who is ‘shaking the Orange County legal system to its bedrock’”
Orange County Register: “Is Scott Sanders the most polarizing man in Orange County?”
