The Los Angeles
Times
Orange County D.A.
investigates Sheriff's Department handling of teen's
death
The apparent suicide of
the son of sheriff's lieutenants has led to an inquiry
into the department's response.
By Christine Hanley and Stuart Pfeifer
Los Angeles Times Staff Writers
April 25, 2008
The Orange County district attorney's office has opened
an investigation into the way sheriff's officials
handled the apparent suicide of the teenage son of two
sheriff's lieutenants who was found shot to death at his
mother's home.
The boy's death in January has drawn scrutiny from
county prosecutors in part because homicide detectives
were not initially sent to the scene, nobody kept track
of who came and went from the home, and the body was
removed before the detectives arrived, according to law
enforcement sources and others familiar with the
circumstances.
The gun, which was registered to the boy's mother, was
among evidence collected by sheriff's officials and
retrieved this week by county prosecutors.
The 16-year-old died Jan. 7 from a gunshot to the head,
the sheriff's coroner confirmed this week.
Coroner's officials concluded that the death was a
suicide but declined to release the report to The Times,
saying the case had been turned over to the district
attorney.
It is common for Sheriff's Department executives and
deputies to go to a crime or accident scene to comfort
colleagues who've been injured or suffered a loss. But
prosecutors reportedly are concerned that high-ranking
commanders failed to follow their own rules in
investigating the death and could have inadvertently
disturbed what might have been a crime scene.
Acting Sheriff Jack Anderson was among department
officials who arrived at the Villa Park home after the
boy's body was discovered, according to those at the
scene and others familiar with the events.
Department spokesman Jim Amormino said Thursday that the
case had been turned over to prosecutors this week. He
declined to discuss details but said: "Sometimes
investigations are not done strictly by the books
because life is not done strictly by the books.
Sometimes compassion does play a part in the way we
handle cases."
The Sheriff's Department is dealing with a series of
scandals, including the 2007 indictment of former
Sheriff Michael S. Carona on corruption charges and a
damning grand jury report that showed the department had
suffered a breakdown as it tried to investigate the
beating death of an inmate at Theo Lacy Jail in Orange.
The lieutenants in this case are divorced. The boy lived
with his father in Irvine but was at his mother's home
in Villa Park at the time of the shooting. The Times is
not naming the couple or their son because there is no
evidence of wrongdoing. The family's lawyer declined to
comment.
According to officials from the district attorney's
office and Sheriff's Department who spoke on condition
of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss
the case, this is what happened:
The shooting was reported by the boy's older brother,
who called his father at work. The father arrived at the
scene before patrol deputies. Anderson,
then-Undersheriff Jo Ann Galisky and assistant sheriffs
Steve Bishop and Dan Martini arrived a short time later.
Capt. Christine Murray, who is in charge of the
department's communication center, responded as a grief
counselor.
Under department policy, apparent suicides are initially
treated as homicides until it can be established there
are no signs of foul play. But homicide detectives
weren't dispatched to the scene for at least 45 minutes
after the shooting was reported. And they learned of the
death only because word of it was sweeping through
department headquarters.
By the time two homicide detectives arrived, the yellow
tape that is normally used to protect a crime scene had
been taken down and the body had been removed by the
coroner's office.
The detectives were prevented from interviewing the
teen's parents at the scene, and no one kept an incident
log of who came and went. The logs are commonly used to
preserve crime scenes and to track who had access to
them.
This week, district attorney's investigators retrieved
the gun and other evidence from the Sheriff's Department
and served the department with subpoenas for all
investigative records, including the autopsy and
interview reports and gunshot residue testing, according
to two sources familiar with the case.
Although California law makes it a felony for someone to
leave a handgun accessible to a minor who uses the
weapon to cause injury or death, prosecutors often do
not seek criminal charges against parents whose children
are killed.
Dozens apply for Orange County sheriff's job
Applicants from 14 states and three countries are on
the list of candidates. Supervisors invite the
public's opinion at a May 6 meeting.
By Christian Berthelsen and Stuart Pfeifer
Los Angeles Times Staff Writers
April 19, 2008
Nearly 50 candidates from 14 states and three
countries have applied to become the next sheriff of
Orange County, ranging from the executive director
of Interpol in France to an electrician's assistant
in Garden Grove, according to a list the county
released Friday.
The list includes several local candidates who had
already expressed their interest in the office,
including current acting Sheriff Jack Anderson,
Santa Ana Police Chief Paul Walters, former Orange
County Sheriff's Lt. Bill Hunt and Los Angeles
County Sheriff's Cmdr. Ralph Martin. Walters, Hunt
and Martin all ran against former Sheriff Michael S.
Carona and lost.
Among the candidates are six current and former city
police chiefs and three current and former county
sheriffs. None of the candidates has led an agency
as large as the Orange County Sheriff's Department,
which is the second-largest in the state with about
1,900 sworn personnel.
Five of the candidates are current or former members
of the department. There appeared to be only two
women on the list.
Among the other more high-profile applicants were
the undersheriff of the Bronx, N.Y., department; the
head of the FBI office in Jackson, Miss.; an
assistant director of the U.S. Department of
Homeland Security; and the director of the
Miami-Dade County corrections department.
The more obscure applicants included the owner of a
liquor business in Bel Air, Md.; the retired police
chief of Duck, N.C.; and an office manager for the
Hamilton County, Ind., Superior Court.
The county hired a recruiting firm to seek
candidates for the post Carona vacated in January,
when he stepped down to focus on fighting a federal
corruption indictment. The county Board of
Supervisors has invited public comments on the
search at its May 6 meeting; the board plans to
conduct public interviews of the final candidates on
May 27 and make a decision June 3.
John Moorlach, chairman of the board, said the list
of candidates rapidly expanded during the final week
of the application period, to the 47 on Friday.
"I'm real pleased with all the response," he said.
"It caught us off guard."
"In light of the way that Carona left office, it was
important to me that they do this nationwide call so
at the end of the process whoever is selected is
validated and helps restore confidence in the
organization," Anderson said Friday. "Of course, I
hope that's me."
Wayne Quint, president of the deputies' union, said
the number of applicants was a sign that the job and
the department are among the best in the United
States.
He said he hoped the Board of Supervisors was not
afraid to look outside the region for a new sheriff.
"The old Carona regime must go," Quint said. "Anyone
associated with Carona must go. I hope the county
hires someone who truly will put the interests of
public safety first and foremost above politics and
they hire the most qualified candidate, local or
not."
christian.berthelsen@la times.com
stuart.pfeifer@latimes.com
The Orange County
Register
Monday, April 21, 2008
Sheriff's candidates
face daunting challenge
Supervisors will hear
public comment about who to hire to fill ex-Sheriff Mike
Carona's term on May 6 and will publicly interview short
list of candidates on May 27.
By PEGGY LOWE
The Orange County Register
Four dozen hopefuls are vying for the job of Orange
County Sheriff – a surprisingly high number who want to
head a department rife with scandals, low morale and
chronic jail overcrowding.
A final list released by the county Monday reveals seven
candidates who had already announced their intentions to
replace former Sheriff Mike Carona, along with law
enforcement officials from surrounding counties and
states -- and even an Interpol executive from France.
The list includes former Assistant Sheriff Dan Martini,
whom Carona fired just before Carona’s resignation in
January, two female candidates, an FBI agent from
Mississippi and the undersheriff of San Bernardino
County.
Although Carona hand-picked Anderson to serve as the
interim sheriff, the Board of Supervisors is now
conducting a search for a replacement to fulfill
Carona’s term, which runs through 2010.
Supervisors also find themselves in the rare position of
naming an applicant for an elected office – which hasn’t
been done since the mid-1990s, when then Treasurer Bob
Citron was charged with crimes related to the county’s
bankruptcy. The search, which will be managed by a
private headhunting firm, is equal parts appointment and
election, said Fred Smoller, a political science
professor at Chapman University.
“It’s an appointed office, but there’s been a hell of a
lot of politicking,” said Smoller, who has written a
letter to the board on behalf of Santa Ana Police Chief
Paul Walters. “I call it an invisible election.”
What’s next in the search for a sheriff
May 6 – the public is invited to
offer comments to the Board of Supervisors at its
regular 9:30 a.m. meeting in the Hall of
Administration in Santa Ana.
May 29– the Board of Supervisors
will publicly interview the remaining candidates for
the job.
The Board of Supervisors hasn’t set a date when it
will vote on the appointment, but it is expected to
fall after the June 3primary
election.
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Including Walters, those vying to replace Carona who
have already publicly announced their candidacy include
acting Sheriff Jack Anderson, former Lt. Bill Hunt,
Anaheim Deputy Chief Craig Hunter and Los Angeles
sheriff’s Cmdr. Ralph Martin. Two other candidates, Bob
Alcarez, who briefly ran against Carona in 2006, and
Kevin Keyes, a software executive, have also announced
their candidacy but are considered long shots.
After a rocky rein in office for nine years, Carona was
indicted last year by a federal grand jury on public
corruption charges. Along with his wife and a woman who
the indictment names as his mistress, Carona was accused
of getting elected only to enrich himself by accepting
bribes of cash and gifts from deep-pocketed friends who
he then rewarded with a job or other favors.
The winner of the appointment faces a daunting challenge
in the state’s second-largest sheriff’s department,
including daily negative headlines. Anderson has spent
most of his time as acting sheriff responding to a
scathing grand jury report that revealed a culture of
lazy guards who allow the inmates to run the county’s
largest jail. Meanwhile, deputy morale is critically low
because of the Carona indictment and supervisors’ legal
attempt to cut a retroactive pension benefit deputies
won in 2002.
To view the candidates and their resumes, go to the
county’s Web site, at http://egov.ocgov.com/portal/site/ocgov/.
Sheriff’s Candidates
Here are the candidates for Orange County Sheriff
in alphabetical order, including city and current
job:
Adams, Randy:Glendale;
police chief
Alcaraz, Robert:Newport Coast;
consultant
Alexander, Timothy:Mays Landing,
New York; lieutenant/commander, Atlantic County
Prosecutor’s office, New Jersey.
Anderson, Jack:Mission Viejo;
interim sheriff
Arnold, Jonathan:Lake Forest; vice
president of sales, Mobile Specialty Vehicles
Babka, Beau:Draper, Utah;
undersheriff, Salt Lake County Sheriff’s Office
Barker, Harold:Camino, Calif.;
retired sheriff-coroner, El Dorado County Sheriff’s
department.
Beemer, Richard:San Bernardino;
undersheriff, San Bernardino County Sheriff’s
Department.
Bellamy, Kevin:Southern California;
claims investigator, HUB Enterprises.
Brink, Frederick:Madison,
Mississippi; special agent in charge, Federal Bureau
of Investigation.
Cooke, Elwin:Culver City; Board of
Directors, California police Chiefs Association.
Coons, Jay:Houston, Texas; captain,
Harris County Sheriff’s Department, Houston.
Dettinger, Michael:Manti, Utah;
county commissioner.
Fletcher, Roderick:Quartz Hill,
Calif.; compliance support assistance, Internal
Revenue Service
Fucito, Joseph: Bronx, New
York; undersheriff, Office of the Sheriff, New York.
Galich, Dave:Huntington Beach;
District manager, Autopay Client Specialist.
Grebmeier, Joseph: King City,
Calif.; Police chief Greenfield Police Department.
Hamilton, Alan:Southern Shores,
North Carolina; retired police chief of Duck, North
Carolina.
Hart, Terry:Los Angeles; retired
deputy sheriff II, Orange County Sheriff’s
Department.
Hunt, William:Santa Ana, retired
lieutenant; Orange County Sheriff’s Department.
Hunter, Craig:Yorba Linda; Deputy
police chief, Anaheim.
Hutchens, Sandra:Dana Point;
division chief, Los Angeles Sheriff’s Department.
Keyes, Kevin:Irvine; Director of
international operations, Phoenix Software
International.
Kaskowitz, Herman: Yorba Linda;
Watch commander, Los Angeles Police Department.
Lewis, Robert:Lake Elsinore; former
social development director.London, Kim Brian: St.
Didier au Mt. d’Or, France; Interpol executive
director.
Lynch, Patrick:Royal Palm Beach,
Florida; Deputy sheriff, Palm Beach Sheriff’s
Office.
Mansoor, Erik:San Clemente; Deputy
sheriff, Orange County Sheriff’s Department.
Martin, Ralph: Coto de Caza;
commander, Los Angeles Sheriff’s Department.
Martini, Daniel:San Clemente;
former assistant sheriff, Orange County Sheriff’s
Department.
McGinn, Joseph: Media,
Pennsylvania; Sheriff, Delaware County.
McPherson, Douglas:Rockford,
Illinois; Chief deputy coroner, Winnebago County.
Mines, Gerald:Oakland Gardens, New
York; police procedures consultant.
Osborne Sr., Richard:Middlefield,
Ohio. Director of administration, City of Tallmadge,
Ohio.
Paros, Nicholas:Bel Air, Maryland;
Owner, Paros Liquors, LLC.
Peppler, Robert:Fairfax, Virginia;
Assistant director, U.S. Dept. of Homeland Security.
Petrinca, Ion:Garden Grove;
electrician’s assistant.
Ramsey, Kenneth:Batavia, Illinois;
Regional coordinator, Mid-States Organized Crime
Information Center.
Ryan, Timothy:Miami, Florida;
director, Miami Dade County Corrections and
Rehabilitation Department.
Singer, David:Anaheim; police
chief, City of Whittier.
Smith, Stacey:Chicago, Illinois;
sergeant, Chicago Police Department.
Speros, James N.:British Columbia,
Canada; professional police mentor.
Teti, Donald:North Las Vegas,
Nevada, police officer.
Tunson, Tommy:Bakersfield; chief,
Arvin Police Department.
Voulgaris, Elias:Chicago, Illinois;
captain, Chicago Police Department.
Walsh, Kevin:Syracuse, New York;
sheriff of Onondaga County.
Walters, Paul:Santa Ana; Chief,
Santa Ana Police Department.
Whisman, Kenneth:Westfield,
Indiana; Office manager, Hamilton County Superior
Court.
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Contact the writer: (714) 285-2862 or plowe@ocregister.com
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