OC Bar Association Rebukes Prosecutors for Apparent Campaign to Intimidate Judge in Mass Murder Trial

The Orange County Bar Association became the latest to lay into Orange County District Attorney’s Office since it was kicked off the county’s highest profile case - the death penalty trial of mass murderer Scott Dekraai, who pleaded guilty to killing eight people at Salon Meritage in Seal Beach.

Members of the bar issued a resolution last week chastising District Attorney Tony Rackauckas’s office for the appearing to try to punish or intimidate the judge for ruling against prosecutors.

At issue is the apparent campaign by prosecutors to disqualify Judge Thomas Goethals from cases en masse. Goethals, booted the district attorney’s office from the case after Dekraai’s attorney alleged prosecutorial misconduct. Goethal determined Dekraai’s rights were violated by the illegal use of jailhouse informants and turned the case over to the California Attorney General to try the penalty phase of the trial, a move that will further delay the case much to the outrage of victims’ families.

Some of the victims’ families have joined Orange County Supervisor Todd Spitzer in stinging criticism of prosecutors’ handling of the case, which seemed like a slam dunk - Dekraai was caught fleeing the murder scene, and he confessed in detail.

Prosecutors have denied being ordered by District Attorney Tony Rackauckas to avoid trying cases before Goethals in retaliation for his ruling in the Dekraai case. Rackauckas has not responded to Patch calls for comment, but his supporters have been quoted in publications disparaging Goethals, implying the judge has a professional axe to grind with the DA.

According to the Orange County Bar Association, the unofficial boycott of the Goethals courtroom has the appearance of trying to intimidate judges from ruling independently. The resolution reads,

“It has been reported that since February 2014, Orange County prosecutors have sought to disqualify the Honorable Judge Thomas Goethals -- a former homicide prosecutor and defense attorney -- in 57 cases by filing affidavits under California Code of Civil Procedure section 170.6, however, in the years 2011-2013, prosecutors filed Section 170.6 affidavits against Judge Goethals in only 5 cases.

“WHEREAS, the OCBA believes that the excessive use of Section 170.6 against a particular judge can be an inappropriate use of Section 170.6 and can give the appearance of being designed as punitive and retaliatory and going beyond the realm of appropriate criticism and appeal and also could be construed as an attempt to intimidate not just that judge, but the entire judiciary, who will and must remain independent;

“IT IS ALSO RESOLVED, that the OCBA publicly disapproves of the use of tactics which are, or have the appearance of being, punitive and retaliatory towards any sitting judge and which exceed the realm of appropriate criticism and exercise of the protected right of appeal, or which unnecessarily impede the public’s access to justice.”

TELL US WHAT YOU THINK IN THE COMMENTS: Do you think the district attorney’s office is retaliating against the judge for the high profile rebuke?

Photo Credit: OCDA