Ex-Orange County Sheriff (who Larry King had christened "America's Sheriff") has lost his appeal at the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals (San Francisco) of his conviction for trying to get a witness to lie. The court's three-judge panel, in a rare moment of exhibiting good sense, rejected Carona's claim that taped conversations between him and a cooperating defendant should have been suppressed. The reason for this trivial claim?
Carona had a lawyer at the time the recordings were made. (No, the lawyer wasn't present.)
The informant, Don Haidl, after agreeing to cooperate in the corruption probe, was given a fake grand jury subpoena by prosecutors, which he showed to Carona while wearing a wire. What ensued was a conversation between the two in which Carona advised Haidl on how to mislead the investigators.
The three judges decided that undercover approaches are not illegal just because they utilize deception in order to draw a suspect into making incriminating statements. Carona now has the option of asking the full court to hear his argument. Lacking that, he is now expected to go to prison to begin serving his sentence.
As far as Carona's claim that having a lawyer should have precluded the use of an informant or undercover agent, that is ridiculous. Many criminals have attorneys on retainer-just in case. That does not make them immune from being the subject of otherwise legal and valid investigative techniques. Hell, Al Capone had lawyers too. Once a person has been charged with a crime and is represented by counsel, the police are, indeed, supposed to contact the attorney prior to attempting to interview the defendant. That was not the case here. At the time of the recordings, Carona knew he was under investigation, but had not been charged. Even so, a criminal conspiracy often continues with overt acts and substantive crimes even after a person is charged or even serving a sentence. They are not beyond the reach of the law as they continue their criminal enterprise.
Hopefully, this shameful episode is nearing its final conclusion, and Mike Carona will soon be where he belongs-in jail. Then maybe Larry King can re-christen him "America's Jailbird".
A reasonable person in the position of an objective observer might suspect that Gary Fouse has unstated reasons for really wanting THIS sheriff in jail, quite apart from the specific charges for which he was convicted and sentenced. The digital word does not convey the intonation and facial expression which would sustain this suspicion. Mention of Larry King gives a hint though. What did Larry King admire that Gary Fouse does not? Is Larry King considered a liberal? I haven't seen enough of him to tell. The closest I've been to a Larry King interview is a Wittenberg Door interview with God, demanding to know why he allowed Hurricane Katrina to hit New Orleans. (God handled the questions with grace and wit).
ReplyDeleteIn any case, Gary is correct as to the law. Police officers in California have been known to be quite sloppy with taped phone conversations, but Carona doesn't deny that this was a conversation with him.
Siarlys,
ReplyDeleteI had only one reason for paying attention to this story, which I followed from the initial idictment. He was the sheriff of the county I live in and I don't like corrupt cops.
Actually, that's two reasons, I guess.
Maybe so.
ReplyDelete