Grand Jury Says Sheriff's Department Screwed Up
Posted by: Jubal | 03/12/2008 3:30 PM
The Gradn Jury report on the John Chamberlain killing slams the OC Sheriff's Department's mishandling of the investigation.
The OC Register reports:
Steve Greenhut opines on the topic here.
The OC Register reports:
Members of a special grand jury that completed a nine-month probe into a controversial jailhouse killing rebuked the Orange County Sheriff's Department today for investigating the slaying on its own, instead of handing it off.You can read the rest of the story here.
In a strongly worded, two-page letter, jurors stated that "through conscious choice or negligent action," the Sheriff's Department violated a 20-year county policy by refusing to let the District Attorney's Office take over the investigation into the death of inmate John Derek Chamberlain.
The letter, hand-delivered today to Acting Sheriff Jack Anderson and members of the Board of Supervisors, contends that the Sheriff's Department and the District Attorney's Office agreed in 1985 that all jail deaths would be referred to the DA's office for an independent criminal investigation.
"Since its written adoption in 1985, this investigative protocol has been honored, without fail, in 129 out of 130 custodial deaths, including four custodial homicides," the grand jurors wrote in their letter. "The only deviation in the more than 20-year history of this protocol occurred on the night of October 5, 2006 in the sheriff's department's handling of John Chamberlain's murder investigation."
Steve Greenhut opines on the topic here.
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Politics Behind the Orange Curtain
Mr. Ayer registered as a Republican to be electable in an interim election with no incumbents. He did...
Could the Grand Jury be suggesting the America's (former) Sherriff bent the rules to protect his own backside?
Inconceivable!
In October 2006 Sheriff Anderson was a Captain in Aliso Viejo overseeing the department’s entire south county patrol operations when Chamberland was murdered at the Theo Lacy Jail in the City of Orange. How can you possibly connect him to the decision made by sheriff Carona’s Santa Ana executive office to not allow the DA office to investigate the homicide?
According to “Headlights On” all 13 captains in the department are responsible for Carona’s decision. That also makes no sense, but then again my father warned me about people like “Headlights On” by advising me, “When one argues with a fool that they may be similarly engaged, as only a fool would argue with one.” With that said, I have presented the facts and will not engage the fool anymore.
Why will the transcripts not be released for another 7 weeks? The private search firm will have presented a list of candidates to the BOS before then. Shouldn't this be made public before then? At least before the Board of Supervisors interviews.