Tony Rackauckas

Both Sides Ready to Debate Orange County's Pervs-in-Parks Ban Before Appeals Court

When a panel of three Superior Court judges last month nullified the County of Orange's ordinance that bans registered sex offenders from county parks and recreational areas where children gather, the Orange County District Attorney's office responded it looked forward to, as the judges recommended, ... More >>

Tony Rackauckas and Larry Agran's Cash-Corruption Connection

[Moxley Confidential] The Orange County DA owed the Irvine mayor's political machine $25,000, said no crime in the city

Tony Rackauckas Wants His Prosecutors To File More Public Corruption Cases

Hold your hat!Either Orange County flipped upside down in a cosmic miracle or a sudden gust of hurricane force wind tossed District Attorney Tony Rackauckas on his head and gave him amnesia.Rackauckas first ran for the county's top prosecutor job in 1998 while promising to shift agency resources awa ... More >>

New York Times Discovers Perverts are Banned From Many Orange County Parks

The Old Gray Lady has confronted your friendly neighborhood park pervert.Chuting in from an international kerfuffle unknown, The New York Times has discovered the growing phenomenon of Orange County parks being declared off limits to convicted sex offenders.

OCDA Bigwig William Feccia To Retire

​Senior Assistant District Attorney Bill Feccia--one of the brainiest, longtime members of Tony Rackauckas' management team inside the Orange County District Attorney's office (OCDA)--is retiring this week.Except for the Todd Spitzer firing fiasco, it's the biggest OCDA personnel move since 2007, ... More >>

Sheriff Sandra Hutchens & DA Tony Rackauckas Partying Today

​She's oil to his vinegar, but today--and perhaps only today--Sheriff Sandra Hutchens and District Attorney Tony Rackauckas are simultaneously partying over the same concept.That's right, folks. Orange County's top elected law enforcement duo are donning pointy paper caps, blowing horns and counti ... More >>

Kelly Thomas Beating Video Shown to his Father but not Mother Due to Court Battle

​The lawyer for the mother of Kelly Thomas, the 37-year-old homeless man beaten to death by Fullerton police officers last July--told a judge today that District Attorney Tony Rackauckas is playing "inexplicable" games with his client's victim rights to access prosecution evidence.According t ... More >>

The Real Todd Spitzer Stands Up

[Moxley Confidential] Orange County's potential next district attorney makes a surprising confession in his eternal war against DA Tony Rackauckas and GOP power couple Susan and Mike Schroeder

Kelly Thomas' Mother Wins Court Order Forcing the District Attorney to Explain Secrecy

Deputy DA turned defense lawyer Gurwitz​An Orange County Superior Court judge has ordered prosecutors to explain a decision to block Kelly Thomas' mother from her right to inspect law enforcement files about the gruesome Fullerton police killing of her son in July.Court records obtained by the Wee ... More >>

Kelly Thomas' Mom Sues DA Tony Rackauckas For Secrecy in Fullerton Murder Case Against Cops

Rackauckas​The mother of Kelly Thomas--the homeless man savagely killed by Fullerton police in July--is suing the lawman who is prosecuting two cops in the case. This week, Cathy Thomas filed a lawsuit in Orange County Superior Court in hopes of forcing District Attorney Tony Rackauckas to re ... More >>

[UPDATE: One Officer Charged With Second-Degree Murder, Another with Manslaughter] Kelly Thomas Killing Announcement Draws Huge Media Crowd ... and Protesters

DA T-Rack​UPDATE 11:00 a.m.: Gustavo here. Before the press conference even began, veteran attorney John Barnett (whom you'll remember helped to represent the Haidl gang) announce to reporters that his client, Fullerton Officer Manuel Ramos, had surrendered himself to face charges on second-degree ... More >>

Kelly Thomas Killing Prompts DA Tony Rackauckas' Finest Moment

R. Scott MoxleyDistrict Attorney Tony Rackauckas​At 11:04 a.m. today, Orange County District Attorney Tony Rackauckas entered a heavily guarded press conference, walked to the podium without fanfare and, in front of 13 television news cameras and dozens of reporters, made history.Rackauckas announ ... More >>

[UPDATED with Early RSM Nod:] Banning Pervs in Parks Sweeps OC

​UPDATE, JULY 29, 9:41 A.M.: The Rancho Santa Margarita City Council voted Wednesday night to move ahead with a ban on registered sex offenders in city parks that is similar to the county law enacted in April.The council agreed that banning only those who have preyed on children would leave kids v ... More >>

Irvine Befuddled DA Tony Rackauckas on Perverts-in-the-Park Debate

Larry, Sukhee & Beth: The water's safe!​Having lost his push to get a defiant Irvine City Council to adopt his proposed ordinance banning convicted sex offenders from public parks, a befuddled Orange County District Attorney Tony Rackauckas left Tuesday night's session and immediately thought ... More >>

[UPDATED with Enactment Cheered:] Westminster Jumps Aboard Bandwagon Banning Pervs in Parks

Erin Runnion​UPDATE, MAY 27, 3:40 P.M.: An Orange County supervisor, the district attorney and perhaps the most famous mother of a local crime victim today applauded Westminster officially enacting a ban on registered sex offenders from city parks.Cheers from Supervisor Shawn Nelson and District A ... More >>

DA Tony Rackauckas Stumped By Gun Mystery

Photo by Christopher VictorioDA: Can't play Russian Roulette anymore.​Every day crime mysteries are uncovered in the Orange County District Attorney's office. And every day some of those mysteries are officially solved by prosecutors in courtrooms. But there's one mystery that has stumped DA Tony ... More >>

DA Todd Spitzer's Latest Flip-Flop

Todd Spitzer​Five months ago, an angry Todd Spitzer took control of a public employees' local union hall in Santa Ana; called print, radio and television reporters to a press conference; and made a historic announcement. Spitzer--a former prosecutor, county supervisor and Republican stat ... More >>

[UPDATED] 24 Civic and Faith Leaders Urge DA Tony Rackauckas to Drop Criminal Probe of Irvine 11

​UPDATE, FEB. 3, 10 A.M.: The Los Angeles Times this morning jumped on the "Free the Irvine 11" bandwagon by publishing an editorial under that headline. Criminal charges against the students "are not appropriate" and "would be overkill" and could result in "a punishment out of proportion to the ... More >>

Todd Spitzer Keeps Digging

[Moxley Confidential] At a press conference meant to refute that of the DA who fired him, Spitzer ends up making his old boss' point for him

Todd Spitzer Calls For Polygraph In Dispute With DA

Tony Rackauckas Following Wednesday's heated, dueling press conferences between District Attorney Tony Rackauckas and Todd Spitzer, his recently fired understudy, OC Register columnist Frank Mickadeit accurately wrote today that the men provided opposite answers on at least three topics.Upshot, ac ... More >>

Tony Rackauckas & Todd Spitzer Declare Themselves 2014 Opponents for Orange County's Top Prosecutor Job

Spitzer: Rackauckas has been "totally unethical."​Orange County District Attorney Tony Rackauckas and Todd Spitzer, the high-ranking prosecutor he fired in August, conducted dueling, in-depth press conferences today.After trying to groom Spitzer as his eventual replacement for 18 months, Rackaucka ... More >>

Will the Real Todd Spitzer Please Stand Up?

[Moxley Confidential] The ex-prosecutor assumed he'd take over the DA's office but gets booted first

"Green" Company to Pay $15 Million for Polluting

​Safety-Kleen System Inc. is a national distributor of cleaning solvents. Their products have names like Ecopower motor oil, Icebreaker windshield washer fluid, Khameleon antifreeze and KleenMist II wastewater treatment. They say they are green, well, they better be made of it, because they owe $1 ... More >>

Excessive Force Controversy Continues To Annoy OC Deputy Union

Deputies reject criticism​Sheriff's deputy union officials are privately continuing to lobby Tony Rackauckas in an effort to get the district attorney to flip-flop on his May 2009 assertion that several deputies gave untruthful testimony to protect another officer accused of twice usin ... More >>

Cop Union To Sue OC Prosecutor Tony Rackauckas

Union Boss Quint Unhappy With Rackauckas​The union representing investigators in the district attorney's office, notified county officials this morning that it will file a lawsuit tomorrow in federal court to block District Attorney Tony Rackauckas' plan to implement a temporary layoff plan as a w ... More >>

Is the OC Deputy Union Instigating Trouble in the DA's Office?

Photo by Beth StirnamanMike MajorDeep within the bowels of Orange County law enforcement circles today, a secret ballot vote will be announced regarding the popularity of Mike Major, the acting chief of the district attorney's bureau of investigation since March. On the surface, the non-public conte ... More >>

Jury in Civil Case Finds For DA Rackauckas

Tony Rackauckas' first term in office as district attorney beginning in 1999 wasn't dissimilar to Bill Clinton's initial rocky months in the White House. Both men found themselves surrounded by unfriendly forces looking to capitalize on mistakes. And Rackauckas, a novice DA, provided plenty of fodde ... More >>

Sheriff & DA Skirmish Over Suspected Pedophile Deputy

Under the leadership of Mike Carona—our N-word-tossing, fanny-slapping, vodka-slurping, money-hungry, FBI-indicted ex-sheriff—the Orange County Sheriff’s Department (OCSD) sank into an ethical cesspool. It didn’t make a difference if a deputy was a hard-working public servant (and I know qui ... More >>

District Attorney Seeks to Grab DNA Crime Lab from Sheriff

While county supervisors struggle to pick a replacement for indicted ex-sheriff Mike Carona, District Attorney Tony Rackauckas is seeking to rob the Orange County Sheriff's Department of its nationally-recognized forensic DNA crime lab. According to a newly released county staff report for the upco ... More >>

Tony Rackauckas Hunting Commies in Little Saigon?

The Weekly never passes up on an opportunity to make fun of our favorite local lawman—favorite, now that Sheriff Mike Carona's out of the picture, that is—Tony Rackauckas. So when we saw this item on the fiesty and irreverent Bolsavik blog by ex-Nguoi Viet Daily News managing editor Hao-Nhien Vu ... More >>

Jail Deputies Officially Off the Hook for Bloodiest Jail Murder in County History

At a press conference this afternoon at the District Attorney's headquarters in Santa Ana, DA Tony Rackauckas announced that a nine-month grand jury investigation by his agency failed to uncover any evidence to charge any Orange County Sheriff's Department personnel for the most bloody murder in the ... More >>

DA to speak tomorrow on OC Jail Murder

Late this afternoon, the District Attorney's press office notified reporters that Tony Rackauckas will publicly address the controversial John Chamberlain jail murder on Friday morning. Prosecutors and the grand jury investigated the killing, but the results have not yet been made public. Rackauckas ... More >>

Rhyming Rackauckas!

The Book of Judges

WEB EXCLUSIVE! An incomplete guide to obscure races

Diary of a Mad County

Murder He Wrote

DA used a convicted murderer for a campaign photo opthen told state officials the man was still guilty

Conflicting Conflicts

With Jaramillo case, Rackauckas able to shift conflict of interest allegations away from himself for a change

She Just Toots Tonys Horn

DA defends his spokespersons promotion against charges of favoritism

The Tonys!

The DAs enemies list? Its an honor!

Gag Order

The war inside the DAs media department

Mr. Spineless, to You

New suit, more questions ON DA, ARCO

Cronyism Maximized

Once again, the LA Times gives Rackauckas a free pass

You Paid for Tony Rackauckas Mexican Vacation

Tonys New Suit

Weekly sues DAs office over secret files

Spot the Gas Leak

The year in Tony Rackauckas

Toxic Politics

District Attorney Tony Rackauckas weighed his own political future against the safety of Orange County's drinking water and decided to save his own skin

ARCO settlement

Bada Bing!

Attorney General auditing Orange County DAs questionable use of witness-protection funds

Watching the Detective

Inside the office of Orange County District Attorney Tony Rackauckas

DA Puts Pub Back in Public Funds!

Slosh fund revelation helps fuel mass exodus of veteran investigators