Orange County Mass Killer Fights Death Penalty, Says Investigators Lied

The man responsible for the worst mass killing in Orange County history has revived his legal battle to escape the death penalty with allegations that Orange County sheriff’s investigators lied under oath about violating his constitutional rights.

Scott Evans Dekraai lost his initial battle to avoid the ultimate punishment following a months-long hearing that explored his attorney’s allegations that deputies and prosecutors engaged in a conspiracy to use jailhouse informants to illegally fish for damning information on a variety of inmates housed in Orange County’s jails.

Dekraai also wanted the judge to boot the Orange County District Attorney’s Office from his case.

Although Orange County Superior Court Judge Thomas Goethals found that misconduct had occurred, he only ruled that prosecutors could not use some of Dekraai’s statements to a jailhouse informant during the penalty phase of his trial.

Dekraai pleaded guilty earlier this year to killing his ex-wife and seven other people in and around a Seal Beach beauty salon on Oct. 12, 2011, triggering the still-pending penalty phase.

Goethals ruled the misconduct was more a result of negligence than a criminal conspiracy as alleged by Dekraii’s attorney. Assistant Public Defender Scott Sanders, however, has filed a new motion asking Goethals to reconsider his ruling on the death penalty.

Sanders is now alleging that some sheriff’s investigators assigned to a Special Handling Unit perjured themselves during the evidentiary hearing on Dekraai’s earlier claims about jailhouse informants. The investigators lied when they said they did not have control over which jail cell should house defendants, Sanders alleges.

The case has already led to the release of a man charged in two gang- related killings, a retrial for another murder defendant, and dropped charges of attempted murder and solicitation of murder against another man.

In the motion filed Friday, Sanders alleges prosecutors and sheriff’s investigators “engage in a systematic and ongoing processes of concealing evidence favorable to the defense and of stonewalling judicial processes.”

Sanders also alleges that prosecutors have withheld evidence from defense attorneys and cited two cases involving Senior Deputy District Attorney Larry Yellin. One of those cases -- against Richard Raymond Ramirez -- is in the penalty phase, with jurors considering whether to recommend death or life in prison without parole for the defendant, who was convicted of the 1983 rape- murder of a woman in Garden Grove.

The other case involves Nuzzio Begaren, who was sentenced in May to 25 years to life in prison for participating in the murder of his wife, who worked as a state corrections officer.

Sanders alleges Yellin did not tell Begaren’s attorney of a plea deal for a co-defendant, Rudy Duran, who provided key testimony against Begaren and is expected to plead guilty to voluntary manslaughter.

Sanders also takes aim at Orange County Sheriff Sandra Hutchens for telling City News Service that her office had reviewedits policies in the wake of the allegations about jailhouse informants but had found no wrongdoing. Sanders said there is no evidence her department reviewed the special handling unit.

Sheriff’s investigators testified during the evidentiary hearing earlier this year that they had no control over the movements of inmates in the jails, but Sanders said recently obtained evidence proves otherwise.

Goethals found that one jailhouse informant, who caught Dekraai bragging about his crimes, was coincidentally placed next to the mass killer by a nurse, not investigators.

The informant -- Fernando Perez -- would be allowed to pass on unsolicited information he had heard, but it would be illegal for him to question Dekraai since he had an attorney.

Prosecutors have asked for more time to file a reply brief to Sanders’ motion, but officials told CNS today that there’s no evidence of a conspiracy.

Part of what triggered the new round of allegations involves Assistant District Attorney Dan Wagner -- head of the homicide unit -- receiving what appeared to be confidential psychiatric reports on Dekraai that he legally was not allowed to see.

Wagner told CNS that he apparently received the information by mistake and immediately alerted Sanders and Goethals.

Susan Kang Schroeder, chief of staff for Orange County District Attorney Tony Rackauckas, said such bureaucratic mix-ups are not uncommon.

Yellin denied the allegations that he illegally withheld evidence about Duran’s statements to investigators during Begaren’s trial.

“Begaren not only got a fair trial, he got more than a fair trial,” Yellin said.

Duran’s statements to investigators corroborated other evidence gathered by investigators, he said.

“It would have given (Begaren’s attorney) nowhere to go,” Yellin said.

Yellin denied violating the law requiring him to turn over information about Duran because it was redundant.

Wagner said the defense should have known about Duran anyway, though.

“Nevertheless, it should have been turned over” to defense attorneys, Wagner said, adding if it was a mistake, then it would have been a harmless one.

“Begaren’s lawyer and the court can take care of that, but it has nothing to do with Dekraai,” Wagner said. “Begaren is in possession of that taped (interview with Duran), and if he thinks we’re wrong, then he can litigate that and the court can decide it, but we don’t think the Dekraai case is the proper form for that argument.”

Sheriff’s Lt. Jeff Hallock said his boss is aware of the allegations of perjury.

The evidentiary hearing earlier this year “showed some deficiencies in policies (in the handling of informants) and those have been addressed,” Hallock said.

“Any suggestion that (sheriff’s investigators) were inaccurate or lied in testimony is going to be taken seriously by this department,” Hallock said. “We will cooperate with anything requested (by the judge or prosecutors) of the sheriff’s department.”

---City News Service

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