On the same week that an Orange County jury freed the killers of Kelly Thomas, there was another reminder that law enforcement in Orange County can do anything they damn well please with little fear of getting punished.
Last Friday, OC sheriff's deputy Juan Tavera pleaded guilty to pepper-spraying a teenager's pizza during a 2012 traffic stop in Laguna Hills. The teen and his friends–who were charged with no crime–fell violently ill to the poisoning. You and I do that spiking, we get time in the pen. Talavera's punishment? 100 days of community service, and probation.
Um, what?!
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The sad thing is that Tavera's sentence is, as far I remember, the harshest punishment ever inflicted on an Orange County law enforcement official for excessive force while on the job. How pathetic is THAT? Maybe OC DA Tony Rackauckas is a fan of a spicy pie, and let him walk? He IS half-Mexi, ya know…
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