Biennial Report
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About the District Attorney OFFICE OF THE DISTRICT ATTORNEY ORANGE COUNTY Biennial Report 5 1 Commitment to the County The Mission of the Office of the District Attorney of Orange County is to enhance public safety and welfare and create a sense of security in the community through the vigorous enforcement of criminal and civil laws in a just, honest, efficient and ethical manner. Biennial Report TABLE of C NTENTS 2013 4 About the District Attorney 6 Executive Team 7 Staff Organization 8 Priorities of the District Attorney 10 Public Affairs 12 Government and Community Relations 14 Bureau of Investigation 16 TracKRS 18 DNA 19 Orange County Regional Computer Forensics Laboratory 20 Juvenile Division 22 Branch Courts 23 Felony Panel 24 Consumer Protection 25 Environmental Protection 26 Family Protection 28 Fraud 32 Gang and TARGET 34 Gang Injunctions 36 GRIP 37 Hate Crimes 38 Homicide 40 Homicide Victims 42 Vehicular Homicide 44 Law and Motion 45 Narcotics Enforcement 46 Parole Hearings 48 Sexual Assault 50 Sex Offender Ordinance 52 Special Prosecutions 55 Trial Attorney Partnership 56 Military Service 58 Victims’ Rights March and Rally 60 Victim and Witness Services Biennial Report AB UT the Biennial Report DISTRICTATTORNEY ony Rackauckas is grateful for the priv- ilege to have spent his life serving the public. Called “a tough, no-nonsense DA” by national television talk show Thosts, colleagues, and citizens, his passion and motivation for his job stem from the patriotism and philanthropy he learned as a child growing up in a military family in East Los Angeles. His maternal grandparents Alejandro and Caro- lina Limón immigrated to the United States from Hermosillo, Sonora, Mexico, around 1921 and settled in Arizona to start a new life and family. In the late 1930s, Maria Socorro Limón met and married Anthony Joseph Rackauckas, a naval of- ficer, whose family immigrated from Lithuania. Tony was born three years later on March 18, 1943, the second of six children, and primarily spoke Spanish for the first three years of his life. Tony’s father Anthony spent 20 years in the U.S. Navy, rising to the rank of Chief. Inspired by his father’s example to serve the public, Tony, then- 19, enlisted in the U.S. Army as a paratrooper in the 101st Airborne Division (Air Assault). He served on active duty from 1962 to 1964 and re- mained in the U.S. Army Reserve for four more years before receiving an honorable discharge. 4 Tony Rackauckas After his Army service, Tony studied political science at California State University, Long Beach. “I was grate- ful to work nights as a security guard. It allowed me to take classes during the day and support my young, growing family.” He went on to earn his Juris Doctor from Loyola Law School, Los Angeles in 1971. From 1968 to 1972, Tony worked as a social worker in the Los Angeles County Department of Public Social Services, where he was selected as one of four social workers to implement and run a pi- lot program to assist unem- In June 1998, Tony ran for District Attorney and was ployed fathers of families overwhelmingly elected to the post by the citizens of receiving welfare in gaining Orange County. He won the election by 23 percent- employment. The program age points over his opponent, becoming the first per- continues to be successful and son from outside the OCDA to be elected District utilized statewide. Attorney in more than 40 years. Tony has since been re-elected three times, 2002, 2006, and 2010, twice In 1972, Tony joined the Orange County District At- running un-opposed. torney’s Office (OCDA). Over the next 15 years as a deputy district attorney, he conducted over 40 homi- cide jury trials and well over 100 felony jury trials, in- cluding rape, robbery, arson, assault, burglary, fraud, narcotics, and child molestation. In 1982, Tony took an unpaid leave of absence from the OCDA to lead a statewide campaign to remove three rogue California Supreme Court Justices in or- der to uphold the death penalty, enforce the law as written, and restore integrity to the state judiciary. After briefly working in private practice, he was ap- pointed as a Municipal Court Judge in 1990 by Gov- ernor George Deukmejian. Three years later, Governor Pete Wilson appointed Tony to the Superior Court, and he was named Presiding Judge of its Appellate De- partment in 1996. 5 2013 BIENNIAL REPORT www.orangecountyda.com Executive Team Jim Tanizaki Mary Anne McCauley Senior Assistant District Attorney Senior Assistant District Attorney Joe D’Agostino Michael Lubinski Senior Assistant District Attorney Senior Assistant District Attorney Susan Kang Schroeder Jeff McLaughlin Chief of Staff Chief of Bureau of Investigation Tony Rackauckas Todd Hart Lisa Bohan-Johnston Farrah Emami District Attorney Director of Government Director of District Attorney and Community Administrative Services Spokesperson Relations 6 ORANGE COUNTY DISTRICT ATTORNEY 2013 BIENNIAL REPORT www.orangecountyda.com Staff Organization Government and District Attorney Public Community Relations Tony Rackauckas Aairs Vertical Branch Court General Felonies/ Special Prosecutions/ Administrative Bureau of Operations Economic Crimes Projects Violent Crimes Services Investigation Central Consumer/ DA Administrative Bureau DNA Support Justice Center Environmental Projects Administration, Services Special Assignments, Felony Projects, Major Fraud, Harbor Major Fraud/ High Prole Facilities Team Gang Justice Center Insurance Fraud Operations OCRCFL, and Consumer/ Environmental Fraud Law and GRIP and Financial Juvenile Family Protection, Motion Gang Services Justice Center Major Narcotics, Injunctions Forfeiture, DNA, Homicide, Public Assistance, TracKRS, OCATT Sexual Assault Special Human Homicide North Prosecutions Resources Justice Center Felony Panel/ Gang, TARGET, Career Criminal GRIP, Gang Sexual Information Injunctions, Assault Systems West Felony Panel, Justice Center Family Protection, Branch Court Services, TARGET Research Juvenile, NET, Graphics, Technical Services Attorney Managers 23 Public Assistance, Fraud, Insurance Deputy District Attorneys 246 Fraud, Auto Insurance, UATF, OCATT Paralegals and Prior Researchers 39 Investigative Managers 7 District Attorney Investigators 134 Public Assistance Fraud Investigators 31 Investigative Assistants and Investigative Support 41 Administrative Managers 13 Supervisors, Professionals, and Support Sta 201 TOTAL 735 7 ORANGE COUNTY DISTRICT ATTORNEY PRI RITIES of the DISTRICTATTORNEY he Orange County District Attorney’s Office ADVANCING DNA TECHNOLOGY TO (OCDA) prosecutes more than 70,000 cases FIGHT SEXUALLY VIOLENT per year with a felony conviction rate over 90 PREDATORS AND SOLVE COLD CASES percent. The OCDA fulfills its commitment T to fiscal responsibility each year by spending The OCDA has taken a leadership role by employing under budget while accomplishing its goal of maintain- the latest DNA technology to solve violent and prop- ing public safety. erty crimes. We are the only district attorney’s office in the nation to create and maintain a local offender CURBING GANG VIOLENCE database. The OCDA has helped investigate and solve hundreds of Orange County cold cases dating back as Criminal street gangs deny citizens their basic right to far as 1960. The OCDA played a key role in authoring, live free from the fear of gang intimidation and vio- passing and implementing Proposition 69, which re- lence. Over the last 14 years, gang crime has decreased quires all people arrested for felonies to submit their dramatically in Orange County. Gang membership has DNA profile to a national database. This law has resulted in a substantial number of DNA cold hits and has greatly aided in solving violent crimes, including murders and rapes. The OCDA maxi- mizes the use of DNA technology by improving crime scene investigation techniques, offender DNA sample tracking, and automated high through-put DNA analysis procedures. This has led to an unprecedented num- ber of cold cases being solved, bring- ing closure to grieving families, tak- ing sexual predators off the streets to prevent them from harming more victims, and protecting our property from recidi- vist thieves. To read about decreased by approximately 6,050 individuals and the OCDA’s advancing there are approximately 41 fewer gangs. The OCDA of DNA technology, see will continue to curb gang violence using a 4-pronged page 18. approach: aggressive prosecutions of gang members, targeting gang leaders, injunctions to prevent gang members from terrorizing our communities, and the Orange County Gang Reduction Intervention Part- nership to encourage kids to stay out of gangs. To read about the OCDA’s fight against gangs, see page 32. 8 FIGHTING FRAUD AND SAFEKEEPING PERSONAL INFORMATION As criminals become more technologically advanced, and with the downturn in the economy, there is an increased need to fight identity theft and eco- nomic fraud such as workers’ compensation insur- ance fraud, medical insurance fraud, and real estate fraud. The OCDA has obtained up to 90 years of imprisonment for white collar criminals, who often prey on the most vulnerable and destroy the life sav- ings of many families. The OCDA has increased the number of prosecutors, Investigators, and support staff with specialized fraud expertise, and equips them with the tools they need to utilize advanced digital technology. The OCDA teams up with the PROTECTING AND PRESERVING Federal Bureau of Investigation and local police to OUR ENVIRONMENT keep a step ahead of criminals through the Orange County Regional Computer Forensics Laboratory The OCDA set the bar in 1999 with its commit- (OCRCFL). To read more about OCRCFL, see page ment to fight to protect our natural resources and 19. hold polluters accountable by increasing the bud- get of the Environmental Protection Unit by 300 percent to clean up and preserve Orange County’s environment. As a result, the OCDA led the first prosecution of its kind in the nation against three major oil companies for polluting the County’s ground water by leaking dangerous chemicals, forcing these oil companies to clean up more than 300 gas station sites in the County at a cost of more than $100 million to the oil companies.