The U.S. Justice Department launched an investigation of the O.C.'s district attorney's office over its use of jailhouse informants, adding to the debate over whether these 'snitches' are legal or ethical; President Obama hosts his final press conference; plus Larry and KPCC film critics review 'Rogue One,' 'Collateral Beauty' and more.
The benefits and potential pitfalls of using jailhouse informants
The use of jailhouse informants to help prosecutors convict criminals is in the spotlight in Southern California after the U.S. Justice Department announced Thursday that it would open an investigation into the Orange County District Attorney's Office and sheriff's department to determine whether the agencies violated defendants' constitutional right to a lawyer and a fair trial, as well as whether due process rights were violated by failing to disclose evidence.
So, when can prosecutors use jailhouse informants? And what are the rules that govern them?
Chapman University law professor and former federal prosecutor Larry Rosenthal says there are two major factors to consider when using a jailhouse informant.
"The first is once an individual has been charged with a crime...the prosecution can’t deal with them except through a lawyer," he says. "An informant can be used to gather evidence that could be used in the pending case only if that informant is entirely passive. That means very careful precautions have to be taken in order to ensure that the informant isn’t actually trying to gather evidence. Second, any information relative to the credibility of that informant has to be disclosed to the defense."
Rosenthal says on the rare occasions that he used jailhouse informants in his career, it was carefully supervised and informants not only had to acknowledge in writing that they understood the rules, but also had their conversations recorded to ensure there was no active information-gathering going on. He adds that it's unlikely that the Orange County DA will be charged with a crime. In order for that to happen, he says, there would have to be proof that the DA went about trying to deny people their right to a fair trial, and that the evidence here suggests incompetence, not criminal negligence.
"When the OC DA gets pressed [on this issue], they have a very interesting answer. They say, ‘We’re not corrupt. We’re not trying to frame people. We’re just incompetent’," he says. "That’s the real problem here...If we have a district attorney in Orange County who can’t figure out what kinds of reforms are required, that’s the most serious problem."
Irvine-based criminal defense attorney William Weinberg sees it differently. He doesn't rule out the possibility the DA will face criminal prosecution. He adds that this case is important because it shows a systemic effort by the Orange County DA and sheriff's department to move informants around the jail, and adds that they even had computer software set up to monitor the informants.
"I think that situation has revealed that it’s almost impossible to get a really fair and honest informant to reveal information about criminal activity because it has to be passively-received information, and that’s very hard. It’s tempting for the jail to do what Orange County Sheriff’s Department did which is develop this completely secret system of cultivating and deploying informants in the jail system."
Weinberg says that given how difficult it is to get an honest informant who is only gathering information passively, you'd think defense attorneys like him would lick their chops at the prospect of a prosecutor introducing evidence obtained by a jail informant. But it's often not that simple.
"Most confidential informant cases are at street level. They’re people who have been charged with or suspected of crimes who ended up giving information to help themselves," he says. "The problem with licking your chops is you might be looking down at an empty plate because you don’t have all the information necessary to ask the questions you’d like to ask."
In the most notable fallout from the informant scandal so far, O.C. District Attorney Tony Rackauckas' office was thrown off the murderer case against Scott Dekraai, who carried out the 2011 Seal Beach salon shooting that left eight people dead. An appeals court judge recently upheld that decision and turned the case over to the state attorney general. Evidence and testimony revealed that the D.A.'s office had wired Dekraai's cell and directed a jail informant to obtain information from him, knowing that he he was being represented by a lawyer, a clear violation of his civil rights.
Both the Orange County District Attorney's Office and the Orange County Sheriff's Department have denied intentional wrongdoing and say they welcome the Justice Department's investigation.
Guests:
Larry Rosenthal, professor in the Fowler School of Law at Chapman University and a former federal prosecutor
William Weinberg, criminal defense attorney based in Irvine
President Obama’s end-of-the year press conference
President Obama said Friday he is leaving behind a more prosperous and safe country than the one he inherited from his predecessor.
"Almost every country on Earth sees America as stronger and more respected today than it was eight years ago," the president said at a White House news conference on Friday before the Obama family's departure to Hawaii for its annual holiday vacation.
Obama ticked off a list of his economic milestones including lower unemployment, income growth, a tripling of the stock market and access to health care for 20 million Americans since he took office in 2009.
On the foreign policy front, the president said he de-escalated the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan and worked to forge new relationships with Iran and Cuba, as well as the Paris climate deal to combat man-made climate change.
Obama also said he is committed to ensuring a smooth transition for President-elect Donald Trump. "I think they would be the first to acknowledge that we have done everything we can to make sure that they are successful, as I promised, and that will continue."
The president described his interactions with Trump as "cordial" and said he will "always make myself available to him just as previous presidents made themselves available to me as issues come up."
The president and Trump have very different views on the realities and motives of Russian efforts to influence the 2016 election. Trump has downplayed the Russian hacks and questioned the intelligence analysis of the Central Intelligence Agency that the Russians intervened to help Trump win the election.
Obama side-stepped attempts to criticize Trump. Instead, he said he has "great confidence" in U.S. intelligence and their conclusions about Russia's influence. The president has ordered a report from U.S. intelligence agencies on the matter by Jan. 20, his last day in office.
"Not much happens in Russia without Vladmir Putin," Obama added, although he declined to explicitly state that he believes Putin ordered the hacking. "Last I checked, there's not a lot of debate and democratic deliberation."
Obama reiterated that Russians were responsible for the hacks of Democratic Party emails but that they did not affect voting machines or the election outcome. "This was not some elaborate, complicated espionage scheme," Obama said, though he did chastise the media for exhaustive coverage of Clinton campaign manager John Podesta's emails.
Obama ducked when asked if the hacking cost Hillary Clinton the election. "I'm going to let all the political pundits in this town have a long discussion about what happened in the election. It was a fascinating election."
He also warned that cybersecurity will remain a national security threat for the U.S. government and businesses.
"Our goal continues to be to send a clear message to Russia, or others, not to do this to us, because we can do stuff to you," he said. "But it is also important for us to do that in a thoughtful, methodical way. Some of it we do publicly, some of it we will do in a way they know, but not everybody will."
Looking to his post-White House life, Obama said he will work to grow the Democratic Party. "The thing we have to spend the most time on because it's the thing we have the most control over is: How do we make sure we are showing up in places where I think Democratic policies are needed, where they are helping, where they are making a difference."
He praised Labor Secretary Tom Perez, who is running to chair the Democratic National Committee. "He is tireless; he is wicked smart," Obama said, although he stopped shy of endorsing him in the DNC race.
On Syria, Obama spoke at length about his administration's hands-off approach to the civil war there. "My first priority has to be, what's the right thing to do for America," he said, in reference to his decision not to commit ground troops to Syria — an act that would have required authorization from Congress.
On China, Obama was forgiving of Trump's decision to speak by phone with the president of Taiwan. He said new presidents have the prerogative to examine the way things have been done in the past, and if they want to change them. But he cautioned to move deliberately and thoughtfully with China because Taiwan is at "the heart of the conception as a nation."
The news conference was the last one for 2016. Asked on the way out whether he would have another before leaving office, Obama responded: "I don't know, I'll have to reflect on that."
This story has been updated.
FilmWeek: ‘Rogue One: A Star Wars Story,’ ‘Collateral Beauty,’ ‘Fences’ and more
Larry Mantle and KPCC film critics Justin Chang and Christy Lemire review this week’s new movie releases including the much anticipated “Rogue One: A Star Wars Story;” and Denzel Washington is back in the director’s chair for “Fences,” and starring in it alongside Viola Davis;” plus an ensemble drama with magic realism fronted by Will Smith entitled “Collateral Beauty;” and more.
TGI-FilmWeek!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i6qlPeS1kGY
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jj-ZYPVRQbc
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=neUwXV_cSwM
Justin's Hits
Christy's Hits
Mixed Reviews
- Justin: "Rogue One: A Star Wars Story"
- Christy: "Collateral Beauty," "Neruda" & "Slash"
This Week's Misses
- Justin: "Collateral Beauty" & "Solace"
- Christy: "Solace" & "A Kind of Murder"
Guests:
Christy Lemire, Film Critic for KPCC and Host of YouTube’s “What the Flick?;”she tweets
Justin Chang, Film Critic for KPCC and the Los Angeles Times; he tweets