by Bert | Feb 26, 2018 | Texas
Last year was interesting for those tracking what’s happening on Texas’s death row. The State executed seven individuals, leading the nation, but did so in the midst of a massive decline in the overall number of executions in America, and a trend of declining death...
by Bert | Aug 23, 2017 | California
It took some time, but Judge Thomas M. Goethals in Orange County finally resolved a defense motion to preclude capital punishment against the defendant in People v. Dekraai. James Queally of the LA Times put it well: “The county’s beleaguered law enforcement leaders...
by Bert | Jul 27, 2017 | National
The Judicial Conference—a national body that makes policy for the federal court system—has expressed concerns about the security of informants in the federal system. Evidently, around 700 cooperating witnesses and jailhouse informants (sometimes referred to as...
by Bert | May 22, 2017 | California
The Open File has taken stock of the ongoing jailhouse informant scandal surrounding the Orange County District Attorney’s office and the Orange County Sheriff’s office with some regularity over the past few years. Remarkably, the fallout continues three years after...
by Bert | Dec 22, 2016 | California
The long-running Orange County informant scandal has taken a sharp turn towards reform and accountability this week. Last month, we compiled coverage of a California appellate court’s decision to affirm a trial judge’s removal of the entire OCDA office from a...
