Ethics/Professional Responsibility,
Criminal
Aug. 21, 2017
OC judge’s dismissal of death penalty could touch thousands of cases
Experts question if the criminal justice system is conducive to uncovering discovery violations such as in the jail informant case.
Assistant Public Defender Scott Sanders succeeded in getting the death penalty dismissed for his client after a two-month hearing in which he questioned the prosecution’s compliance with discovery orders.
SANTA ANA — A judge’s decision to eliminate the death penalty for Orange County’s deadliest mass murderer rests on an ongoing jail informant controversy with national implications that experts say could touch thousands of other cases, but the criminal justice system may not be conducive to uncovering them.
Judge Thomas M. Goethals’ ruling on Friday means Scott Dekraai can only receive life in prison for a 2011 massacre of eight peopl...
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