"America's Sheriff" Guilty on One Count

Ex-Orange County (Ca) Sheriff Mike Carona


This morning a federal jury in Santa Ana, California returned verdicts of "not guilty" on 5 of 6 counts in former Orange County Sheriff Mike Carona's corruption trial. Carona was convicted on one count of witness tampering. The overall verdict is being received with a general sense of shock by the local media.

As the verdicts were read, Carona began sobbing and laid his head on the table in front of him. He remains free pending sentencing on the one count of witness tampering, in which he faces a maximum sentence of 5 years.

This verdict will probably add to California's reputation as a place where high-profile defendants are difficult to prosecute. Add Carona to OJ Simpson, Michael Jackson, Robert Blake and Phil Spector, previous famous defendants who were acquitted. In this case, the most damning evidence was the taped recordings of Carona's own words to Don Haidl. Yet, it appears the jurors chose not to believe their lying ears.

One local radio station reporter, in reporting the verdicts direct from the courtroom, speculated that the not guilty verdicts might endanger the plea deals that co-conspirators Don Haidl and George Jaramillo made with the government based on the fact that guilty verdicts were not reached (except for one count). That is absolutely incorrect. First of all, the government's deal with a cooperating defendant or co-conspirator does not hinge on guilty verdicts. That is in the hands of the jury. As long as the government is satisfied that the cooperating defendant fully upheld his/her end of the deal and testified truthfully, the verdict does not matter. In the case of Haidl, however, there is a suspicion he may have perjured himself in his testimony when he testified that he had never engaged in illegal campaign activities with others besides Carona. If that is, in fact, the case, then his deal might be in jeopardy. As for Jaramillo, the government chose not to call him as a witness.

As a former law enforcement officer with strong feelings about corruption, I sincerely hope Carona gets the maximum 5 years. There are few things worse than corruption in law enforcement, and Carona violated every trust put in him by the citizens of Orange County. He destroyed the reputation of a major law enforcement agency that is made up overwhelmingly of honest and dedicated people.

One could only hope that we shall not see his type again.