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SANTA ANA – A Superior Court judge removed the Orange County District Attorney’s Office from the case against the deadliest killer in county history, saying Thursday that the defendant’s right to a fair trial had been violated by false testimony and the withholding of evidence.Judge Thomas M. Goethals, however, refused to block a potential death sentence for confessed mass murderer Scott Dekraai, whose penalty trial is scheduled to start March 30 for killing eight people at a Seal Beach hair salon in October 2011.Goethals, instead, handed the case to the state Attorney General’s Office. He gave local prosecutors until March 20 to file an appeal.District Attorney Tony Rackauckas declined comment.In the ruling, Goethals concluded that two Orange County sheriff’s deputies intentionally lied or willfully withheld material evidence from the court. Goethals said he would let prosecutors decide if any charges should be filed against the deputies.The veteran judge said he booted local prosecutors from the Dekraai case because of a conflict of interest between “their legal and ethical constraints, and peace officers who may try to cut legal corners for the sake of expediency or some other purpose.”Said Goethals: “The District Attorney is responsible for the actions of his agents. In this case, the evidence demonstrates that some of those agents have habitually ignored the law over an extended period of time to the detriment of this defendent.”Dekraai’s defense team used the violations to fuel an argument that Dekraai should not face execution because he wouldn’t get a fair penalty trial.Assistant District Attorney Dan Wagner declined to comment on the judge’s ruling, but said the office would consider filing an appeal in a way that doesn’t delay the process much longer.“It’s a very rare thing for a prosecutor’s office to be recused,” Wagner said.Sheriff Sandra Hutchens said Thursday she is launching an investigation into the deputies and their testimony.“We’re going to look at all the transcripts, all of the information and look at the facts,” Hutchens said, stressing that the department bears some responsibility for not training deputies to work with informants and testify.Families of the victims attended the hearing and were devastated by the ruling, which they said would extend the long-delayed case.“My nightmare continues. I’m stunned, angry, frustrated,” said Paul Wilson, husband of victim Christy Wilson.“The fundamentals of the case is that he killed those eight people that day and he needs to pay for that, and now we’re going on three years and we’re starting all over again. I don’t understand it. There has to be a better answer.”Dekraai’s attorney, Assistant Public Defender Scott Sanders, declined to comment after the ruling. However, in arguments before Goethals, Sanders said prosecutors should be more concerned about their police partners.“There's nothing more dangerous to a criminal justice system than an officer who will lie. Because when you see the lying at the rate and quantity that we saw here, and you think about what they do when nobody’s looking, it’s frightening,” Sanders said.
Earlier article: Judge: D.A. actions 'negligent' in Dekraai case, not malicious
