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O.C.’s first Homeless Death Review Committee commissioned by the OC Sheriff

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SANTA ANA, Ca. (Jan. 26, 2022): Orange County Sheriff-Coroner Don Barnes announced today that he has commissioned the County’s first Homeless Death Review Committee to review deaths of people experiencing homelessness in Orange County.

Sheriff-Coroner Barnes is commissioning the committee through the Orange County Coroner’s Office, a division of the Orange County Sheriff’s Department. The Homeless Death Review Committee, consisting of technical experts from both the public and private sectors, will explore the root causes of the reviewed deaths and determine what, if any, factors contributing to the deaths were preventable.

While the Sheriff’s Department and Orange County Coroner’s Office have tracked deaths of people experiencing homelessness for many years, the Homeless Death Review Committee will provide an extensive and in-depth review. Based on this review, the committee will develop an independent report with recommendations to Sheriff-Coroner Barnes and policymakers to find solutions that assist in reducing the number of preventable deaths of people experiencing homelessness.

“Addressing the impacts of homelessness remains a top priority for the Sheriff’s Department and our County partners,” said Sheriff-Coroner Barnes. “This Review Committee presents an opportunity to make data-driven policy decisions that will ultimately result in lives saved and an enhanced quality of life for our community.”

A Mortality Review Committee is a recommended best practice by the National Health Care for the Homeless Council. Several jurisdictions have employed the use of these committees to assist in developing policies aimed at reducing preventable deaths.

The Orange County Homeless Death Review Committee will be comprised of representatives from the Orange County Coroner’s Office, the Orange County Health Care Agency, the County of Orange Social Services Agency, the Hospital Association of Southern California, the Orange County Medical Association, multiple experts in providing direct service to individuals experiencing homelessness, and at least one municipal law enforcement agency. The committee will hold its first meeting in the spring of 2022.

O.C. Crime Laboratory recognized for implementing national forensic standards

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SANTA ANA, Ca. (January 19, 2022): The Orange County Crime Laboratory, a division of the Orange County Sheriff-Coroner Department, was nationally recognized as a “Registry Implementer” for its high-quality standards and practices in forensic science by the National Institutes of Science and Technology-sponsored Organization of Scientific Area Committees (OSAC).

OSAC recognizes crime labs that meet rigorous standards as defined in their Registry. The Registry is a repository of technically sound standards and best practices for forensic laboratories, and covers a broad spectrum of forensic disciplines including DNA, Toxicology and Digital Evidence.

According to OSAC, these standards can “improve consistency across forensic science disciplines, ensure confidence in the accuracy, reliability, and reproducibility of laboratory results, and positively increase the impact of admissibility and expert testimony in courts of law.”

The Crime Lab is one of 70 labs across the nation recognized as a “Registry Implementer” for adopting standards as outlined by OSAC.

“The OSAC standards process is critically important for the national forensic community, and this collaborative approach involved a significant amount of work by our personnel over the last few years,” said Bruce Houlihan, Director of the Crime Lab. “As a laboratory with many diverse disciplines and services, our goal was to implement all Registry standards applicable to these disciplines.”
Implementation of the OSAC standards involved building on the lab’s current accreditations with the American National Standards Institute National Accreditation Board (ANAB) and the International Organization for Standardization (ISO).

“Our personnel worked hard to meet OSAC’s standards while maintaining high quality and productivity,” Houlihan said. “Applying sound scientific principles to the collection, evaluation and interpretation of physical evidence is the core of our mission, and we remain committed to providing excellent service to the residents of Orange County.”

The OC Sheriff promoted two Assistant Sheriffs

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SANTA ANA, Ca. (January 14, 2022): The Orange County Sheriff’s Department today promoted 33 personnel, including two Assistant Sheriffs.

Assistant Sheriff Jeff Puckett will oversee the Department’s Custody Operations Command, one of the largest jail systems in the country. This includes managing collaborative efforts with community partners for inmate programming focused on re-entry services and adopting an integrated services approach for inmates with mental health and substance use disorders.

Assistant Sheriff Andrew Stephens will oversee the Investigations and Special Operations Command, which includes the Investigations Division, Orange County Crime Lab, Orange County Coroner, Special Operations, and Emergency Management.

“Assistant Sheriffs Puckett and Stephens have a demonstrated history of effective and innovative leadership in their tenure with the Orange County Sheriff’s Department, and I look forward to the contributions they will make in their respective commands,” said Don Barnes, Orange County Sheriff-Coroner. “They embody what it means to serve with integrity, humility and a genuine care for the men and women of this department and the residents of Orange County.”

Thirty-one additional personnel also were promoted today including seven investigators, ten sergeants, eight lieutenants, and six commanders.

Assistant Sheriff Jeff Puckett

Assistant Sheriff Puckett joined the Sheriff’s Department in 1998 as a Sheriff’s Special Officer before becoming a deputy in 1999. He has served as a patrol deputy and investigator and held multiple specialty assignments including SWAT, Tactical Apprehension Team, and the Sheriff’s Response Team.

Assistant Sheriff Puckett has served in leadership positions in the Custody, Training, and Patrol commands. Most recently, he served as the Southwest Operations Division Commander, overseeing operations for seven contract cities, the traffic office and the Behavioral Health Bureau.

He has a bachelor’s degree in criminal justice from Chapman University, a master’s degree in emergency services administration from California State University, Long Beach, and is a graduate of the FBI National Academy, Class #279.

Assistant Sheriff Andrew Stephens

Assistant Sheriff Stephens joined the Department in 1993 as a deputy sheriff where he worked in custody operations before transferring to patrol to serve the city of Lake Forest. As a deputy, he earned several specialty assignments including Field Training Officer, Critical Incident Response Team, Crisis Negotiation Team, Special Enforcement Team and Directed Enforcement Team.

In leadership roles, Assistant Sheriff Stephens has served in the Custody, Professional Services, Patrol Operations, and Investigations commands. He was promoted to Commander in 2019 and assigned to investigations, which included the Criminal Investigations Bureau, Special Investigations Bureau, and the Orange County Intelligence Assessment Center. Most recently, Assistant Sheriff Stephens served as the Training Division Commander, overseeing approximately 300 recruits a year at the Orange County Sheriff’s Regional Training Academy and the daily operations of the Sandra Hutchens Regional Law Enforcement Training Center.

Assistant Sheriff Stephens has a bachelor’s degree in criminal justice from California Coast University and is a veteran of the United States Marine Corps.

A stabbing occurred in unincorporated Orange County this afternoon

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Orange County Sheriff Deputies arrived at N. Olive Ave. near E. Main St. in the unincorporated area of Orange Olive investigating a stabbing at about 1 pm. today.

The victim has been transported to the hospital with serious injuries.

Please avoid the are while deputies attempt to locate the suspect.

The stabbing occurred in a light industrial area just north of Lincoln Ave.

Investigations seeking person of interest in a 1980 O.C. cold case

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SANTA ANA, Ca. (December 29, 2021): Investigators are looking to identify a person of interest in the 1980 homicide of 15-year-old Kerry Patterson.

Kerry was last seen on June 26, 1980 walking in the area of Parks Junior High School in the 1700 block of Rosecrans Avenue in Fullerton. Investigators believe she was heading toward her home in the 1700 block of Peacock Lane. She was last seen wearing loose-fitting blue pants, white Vans and either a white T-shirt or Hawaiian print blouse. Kerry also was wearing a yellow pendant necklace that said #1.

On December 27, 1980, remains were found in a field near Tonner Canyon and the 57 freeway in Brea. The remains were later identified as Kerry Patterson.

Over the years, investigators have continued to pursue the case and work to establish new leads.

In January 2020, an individual came forward with information about a man believed to be in the area at the time of the Kerry’s disappearance. That individual was able to provide a description and a composite sketch was created.

Investigators are looking to identify this person of interest because it is believed he may have valuable information that may assist in the case.

If anyone can identify this individual or provide any information on Kerry Patterson’s disappearance please contact Investigator Bob Taft at 714-647-7045 or coldcase@ocsheriff.gov. Anonymous tips can be submitted to OC Crime Stoppers at 855-TIP-OCCS (855-847-6227) or at occrimestoppers.org.

The OC Sheriff is trying to identify a dead Latino teen found nearly 25 years ago in Trabuco Canyon

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SANTA ANA, Ca. (December 23, 2021) – The Orange County Sheriff’s Department Homicide Unit, in partnership with the DNA Doe Project, have released a newly updated image in hopes of identifying a John Doe found in Trabuco Canyon nearly 25 years ago.

On Dec. 13, 1996, Coroner Division and OCSD Homicide Investigators responded to reports of human remains found in a wilderness area east of Trabuco Creek Road in the unincorporated area of Trabuco Canyon. At the time, it was estimated the remains had been there up to two years, with environmental factors affecting their condition. Investigators believe the decedent went missing sometime in 1995 or 1996.

Based on initial anthropological estimates from 1996, it was believed this unknown male subject was around 15-19 years old, approximately 5’2” to 5’8” with a medium build. An odontologist’s report, which showed the decedent’s teeth were in poor condition, was submitted to a Department of Justice database. He was given the name John Doe as investigators worked to learn his identity.

In 2020, the Coroner Division partnered with the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC) in an attempt to generate leads that might deliver an identification. In 2020, a computed tomography (CT) scan of the skull was created and submitted to NCMEC, which used the latest reconstruction techniques to develop renderings of what John Doe may have looked like. With the new information, NCMEC modified their initial sketch from 2019 to produce a new likeness that reflects the suspected Latin American decent of John Doe.

In 2020, the Sheriff’s Department partnered with the DNA Doe Project in an attempt to identify the subject. Based on further genetic testing, it is believed the subject is likely from a remote/rural area in Latin America due to the very low threshold of genetic matches.

In September 2021, a new team of volunteers was brought onto the case by DNA Doe Project Case Managers that are specialists in Spanish Language databases. In conjunction with this renewed effort, a forensic artist affiliated with the DNA Doe Project has provided an additional rendering of the unidentified subject. Anyone who has any information about John Doe can contact the Orange County Coroner Division at 714-647-7400 or coroner@OCSheriff.gov, reference case number 96-07901-MU.

Former OC Sheriff’s Deputy facing felony charges after burning an inmate with hot water

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SANTA ANA, Calif. – A former Orange County Sheriff’s Deputy has been charged with two felonies in connection with throwing scalding water on a mentally ill inmate, causing first- and second-degree burns to his hands. The injured inmate was not provided medical care for more than six hours.

Guadalupe Ortiz, 47, has been charged with one felony count of assault or battery by a public officer and one felony count of battery with serious bodily injury. He faces a maximum sentence of four years in state prison if convicted on all counts.

Ortiz spent 19 years working as an Orange County Sheriff’s deputy and previously served as a Sheriff’s Special Officer (SSO) for three years. He was terminated on Friday.

He is scheduled to be arraigned on January 11, 2022 at the Central Justice Center in C55.

“The law imputes a special duty of care on custodial personnel and in this case the Sheriff’s deputy completely breached that duty and crossed the line into criminal conduct,” said Orange County District Attorney Todd Spitzer. “As District Attorney it is my responsibility to hold Sheriff’s deputies and other jail staff accountable when they fail to properly protect those in their care. And now a deputy is throwing away a 22-year-career for inflicting unnecessary harm on a mentally ill inmate out of frustration.”

On April 1, 2021, Ortiz was working as a custodial deputy at the Sheriff’s Intake Release Center in Santa Ana. Another deputy was attempting to get a mentally ill inmate to comply with orders to retract his hands from the hatch door so that the door could be closed.

When he could not get the inmate to comply, Ortiz and another deputy offered to help. At approximately 12:28 p.m., Ortiz is accused of using a hot water dispenser to fill a cup with scalding water and going over to the uncooperative inmate’s cell along with two other deputies. The inmate again ignored orders to put his hands back inside his cell and Ortiz is accused of pouring the scalding water on the hands of the inmate, causing him to immediately pull his hands back inside his cell. One of the deputies closed the hatch door and the three deputies left.

At 7 p.m. – 6 ½ hours later – another deputy spoke to the inmate during a standard security check and requested medical attention for the inmate’s arm which was red and peeling.

Deputy District Attorney Jake Jondle of the Special Prosecutions Unit is prosecuting this case.

The identity of a man who recently died in Orange has been confirmed

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Family members identified the male decedent who recently died in Orange as Danny, 19, from Rialto.

Officials would not disclose the last name of Danny, who was a resident of Rialto, because the “coroner’s investigation is still ongoing.

The Rialto resident was seen Nov. 27 on security footage at the Metrolink Station on Chapman Avenue, where he paid cash for a train ticket to San Bernardino but missed the train.

The man died on December 1, 2021, at St. Joseph’s Hospital. The decedent was transported to the hospital on November 27, 2021, after being discovered unresponsive on the sidewalk near Chapman Ave. and Main St. in the city of Orange.

An inmate at Theo Lacy died of a suspected suicide

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SANTA ANA, Ca. (December 3, 2021) – On Thursday, December 2, 2021, an inmate housed at the Theo Lacy Facility in Orange died of a suspected suicide.

The inmate was booked into jail on November 30, 2021 on a domestic violence related charge.

Yesterday afternoon, he was found unresponsive in his cell. Deputies and corrections medical staff attempted life-saving measures. The inmate was pronounced deceased by paramedics at the Theo Lacy Facility at approximately 4:15 p.m. Preliminarily, there are no suspicious circumstances.

The decedent was identified as Roddy Giacomini Jr., 44, of San Juan Capistrano.

The Orange County District Attorney’s Office will investigate the in-custody death. The Orange County Sheriff’s Department will conduct an in-custody death review. No additional information will be released at this time.

A janitor allegedly took pictures of women using a restroom at an O.C. Courthouse

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Three female lawyers are alleging that a janitor at the Orange County Courthouse took pictures of them while they were in the restroom.

Unbelievably the allegations date back to the end of October and the OC Sheriff and the OCDA have yet to identify or charge the suspect.

The incidents happened in the Lamoreaux Justice Courthouse, which is located in Orange, CA. The facility handles Juvenile, Family Law and Domestic Violence. Also housed at this facility is a Self-Help Center, Family Court Services and the Office of the Family Law Facilitator.

One of the victims said that sheriff’s deputies who showed her the disturbing images of her in the bathroom.

The janitor has not been seen in the courthouse since early November, but the victims want to know who else he might have targeted and whether or not he uploaded to the internet.

The victims also want to be sure all of the janitor’s electronics are searched, according to CBS News.

An inmate at the O.C. Intake Release Center died on Nov. 14

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SANTA ANA, Ca. (November 15, 2021) – On November 14, 2021, a male inmate in his 40s housed at the Intake Release Center in Santa Ana died after being found unresponsive in his cell.

Deputies and corrections medical staff provided medical attention. The inmate, housed in a single-person cell, was pronounced deceased by paramedics at the jail. Preliminarily, the cause of death does not appear to be suspicious. An independent autopsy will be conducted to determine the cause of death. The inmate was booked into jail on November 8, 2021.

The Orange County District Attorney’s Office will investigate the in-custody death. The Orange County Sheriff’s Department will conduct an in-custody death review. No additional information will be released at this time.

Former O.C. Deputy Sheriff pleads guilty to filing a false police report

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SANTA ANA, Calif. – A former Orange County Sheriff’s deputy has pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor charge of filing a false police report in connection with failing to properly book evidence. An Orange County superior court judge agreed to reduce the felony to a misdemeanor over the objection of prosecutors.

Edwin Morales Mora, 45, was indicted on August 5, 2020 by a grand jury on one felony count of filing a false police report.

On August 30, 2017, Mora, while employed as an Orange County Sheriff’s deputy, knowingly wrote and filed a false police report that stated he booked a knife, methamphetamine, and a glass smoking pipe into the Sheriff’s evidence locker in Santa Ana. He never booked the evidence.

Mora is no longer employed by the Orange County Sheriff’s Department.

Mora is the third former Orange County Sheriff’s deputy to be convicted of lying in police reports as a result of the fallout of an Orange County Sheriff’s Department audit that revealed systematic evidence booking issues.

Joseph Anthony Atkinson, Jr., 39, and Bryce Richmond Simpson, 31, each pleaded guilty on June 5, 2020 to one misdemeanor count of willful omission to perform their official duty. Atkinson and Simpson were both sentenced to one year informal probation.

Simpson became an Orange County Sheriff’s Deputy in 2012. Atikinson was hired in April 2013. Neither is currently employed by the Orange County Sheriff’s Department.

In mid-November 2019, District Attorney Todd Spitzer became aware of the extent of evidence booking issues within the Orange County Sheriff’s Department (OCSD) and the existence of department-wide internal audits. District Attorney Spitzer had not been made aware of the extent of these audits previously and only became aware of the matter on November 15, 2019 when he was informed about it from a local newspaper reporter.

Upon learning of the full extent of the audits, District Attorney Spitzer immediately requested additional information from the Sheriff’s Department about potentially impacted criminal cases to ensure that the District Attorney’s Office was able to “identify any and all cases handled by the OCDA where a defendant’s due process rights may have been negatively impacted by having evidence collected but not booked.”

District Attorney Spitzer also directed two senior prosecutors to oversee the office’s response. Because of the deficiencies in the Sheriff’s audit, District Attorney Spitzer ordered a hand-search of all cases resulting in a conviction over a three-year period – from March 2015 to March 2018 – to determine if there were cases where evidence was collected but not booked.

A total of 22,289 cases were reviewed by a joint team of OCSD and DA investigators

  • 3,639 notifications made to defense attorneys in potentially impacted cases (both active and closed cases)
  • Charges were reduced or dismissed in 67 cases
  • Two former OCSD deputies have been convicted of a misdemeanor for failing to properly book evidence
  • A third former OCSD deputy has been convicted of a misdemeanor for filing a false police report.
  • All DNA profiles related to potentially impacted cases identified in the Sheriff’s Department evidence booking audit will be expunged from the OCDA DNA database

The OCDA reports on the Sheriff’s Department Evidence Booking Issues can be found here.

In 2020, District Attorney Spitzer re-opened the criminal investigation of Simpson, Atkinson, Mora and the 14 other Orange County Sheriff’s deputies accused of not properly booking evidence after personally reviewing each file himself. Sixteen of the deputies have been added to the District Attorney’s Brady Notification System. Brady v. Maryland requires prosecutors to disclose to the defense any material exculpatory evidence, including evidence that could be used to impeach police witnesses.

As a result of the additional review, the District Attorney’s Office hired veteran prosecutor Patrick K. O’Toole as a special prosecutor to review the 17 cases and determine if criminal charges were warranted. O’Toole served as the United States Attorney of the Southern District of California and as the head of the San Diego District Attorney’s Public Integrity Division.

“The public has an absolute expectation that their law enforcement officers will carry out their duties lawfully and truthfully,” said Orange County District Attorney Todd Spitzer. “When law enforcement officers falsify reports and break the law, it deprives defendants and victims of their constitutional rights, jeopardizes the criminal justice system, and erodes the public trust. As soon as I was made aware of this situation, I immediately took action to ensure the rights of victims and defendants were safeguarded and to hold those who violated the law accountable.”

An Anaheim man overdosed at the Theo Lacy jail

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SANTA ANA, Ca. (October 20, 2021) – On Wednesday, October 20, 2021, an inmate housed at the Theo Lacy Facility in Orange died of a suspected overdose.

The inmate was booked into jail on October 18, 2021, on a parole violation. In the early morning, he was found unresponsive in his cell.

Medical attention was provided by deputies and corrections medical staff.

The inmate was pronounced deceased by paramedics at the Theo Lacy Facility. Preliminarily, there are no suspicious circumstances.

The decedent was identified as Ryan Forney, 32, of Anaheim.

The Orange County District Attorney’s Office will investigate the in-custody death. The Orange County Sheriff’s Department will conduct an in-custody death review. No additional information will be released at this time.

Editor’s Note – Forney was mentioned in a 2013 article by the O.C. Register regarding a fire in Placentia. At the time he was an aspiring firefighter enrolled in the fire academy at Santa Ana College. He saved a dog trapped in the backyard of a home that was on fire.

Infant born prematurely to Orange County Jail inmate dies

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SANTA ANA, Ca. – An in-custody death of an infant occurred at Orange County Global Medical Center in Santa Ana, CA on September 27.

On September 19, a pregnant inmate housed at the Orange County Jail’s Intake and Release Center was transferred to OC Global Medical Center for medical care.

The morning of September 27, the inmate gave birth prematurely at the hospital. The child was pronounced deceased at approximately noon.

An autopsy will be conducted by an outside, independent pathologist. The official cause of death is pending the results of the pathologist’s findings. The identity of the inmate will not be released at this time.

The inmate was booked into Orange County Jail on September 16, 2021 for assault on a peace officer.

The in-custody death will be investigated by the Orange County District Attorney’s office and the Orange County Sheriff’s Department will complete an in-custody death review.

Review of the OC Sheriff’s Department use-of force policies finds them to be dangerous and poorly conceived

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(Santa Ana, CA) — The Orange County Office of Independent Review (OIR), a government oversight body charged with ensuring transparency and accountability across five justice-related agencies, issued a public report on August 25, 2021 detailing its months-long investigation of the Orange County Sheriff’s Department’s (OCSD) force policies and practices.

The report describes the investigation, its findings, and related recommendations. The OIR found that:

  • OCSD policies do not provide enough information on de-escalation and other critical areas, including the use of lethal force. Policies also allow avoidable high-risk force practices, including what OCSD calls “alternative” force – which are force techniques OCSD does not address in its policies or cover in its training. This may result in deputies using prohibited force or using force in a manner divorced from policy constraints and training. These vulnerabilities increase risk for the public.
  • OCSD training on force and crisis intervention revealed troubling cultural currents that may contribute to undesirable deputy conduct, including bias against individuals with mental health needs. One instructor teaching a crisis intervention course presented a slide with three photographs and the caption: “Danger to Others? Why do all mass shooters look like mass shooters?” The instructor’s presentation and comments, along with others observed by the OIR in other courses, suggest that deputies can determine whether an individual is a threat based on appearance.
  • OCSD’s force-reporting and review practices make it difficult to fully understand how well OCSD is managing the use of force by its deputies. Force reports often lacked necessary detail and the supervisory reviews that followed were, at times, deficient – leading to failures to refer potential misuse of force to its Internal Affairs team. The OIR also identified a frequent practice of late reports. Twenty one percent (21%) of use-of-force packets reviewed from 2020 included at least one late force report. One was filed 41 days after the force incident took place.

“The OIR’s investigation and report represent the realized promise of zealous and independent oversight of the county’s criminal justice system,” said Executive Director Sergio Perez. “If addressed through changes in policy and practices, the issues identified by my office will help secure more just and effective policing services for the people of Orange County.”

The report includes recommendations intended to improve OCSD policy and practices. Those recommendations touch on improvements to policy, better vetting and monitoring of trainers, and changes to the way force is reviewed, among other things. The report is available on the OIR’s website.