Yesterday, Don Haidl continued his testimony against ex-Orange County Sheriff Mike Carona in the on-going corruption trial in Santa Ana. Haidl, who earlier pleaded guilty and secretly tape recorded conversations with Carona under the guise of having been subpoened to the Grand Jury, had been elevated by Carona from wealthy businessman to Asst. Sheriff in charge of the Reserve Division (1998-2004). Haidl's testimony concerns his activities in funneling bribes to Carona.
In his testimony of Friday, Haidl described how 86 contributors to Carona received Sheriff's badges in return, badges that were designed to look identical to those carried by actual deputies. Many also received concealed-gun permits in exchange for their contributions.
In what has to be the most disgusting allegation against Carona, Haidl also described the arrangements by which he and Carona directed cases to local attorney Joe Cavallo (previously convicted), a character who puts a completely new meaning into the age-old term, "sleazebag attorney". This thug obtained notoriety a couple of years back when he defended Haidl's son Greg and two other punks in a gang-rape trial (they were convicted). During the whole ugly process, Cavallo insulted and mocked both the victim and her family in crude terms both in and out of the courtroom.
Not only did Carona and Haidl direct cases to Cavallo, but, according to Haidl's testimony yesterday, they managed to convince the widow of a highly decorated deputy (Brad Warner), who had died unexpectedly after knee surgery, to have Cavallo handle the resultant lawsuit against the hospital involved. According to Haidl's testimony, Cavallo handled the suit and subsequently gave Haidl $28,338 as his cut. Haidl further testified that Carona and ex-Asst Sheriff George Jaramillo were supposed to split $5,000 from the case-though he did not personally witness that payment.
Below is an excerpt from a recorded conversation between Mike Carona and Don Haidl on July 15, 2007 (source: OC Register, 11-8-08):
Carona: "And I'm not looking for sainthood. I, you know, I never thought I'd go to jail for (expletive) around. Apparently, that's, you know, you know, the new current practice. It's the new state law."
Haidl: "Well, like I said, what I'm dealing with, it's, I'm trying to keep focused on the facts. What we know (expletive) the rumors. I don't know what's going to happen."
Carona: "I don't either, Don."
No comments:
Post a Comment