Hints of Sheriff Sandra Hutchens’ latest ugly scandal—the law-enforcement recording and studying of phone calls between defense attorneys and their pretrial, in-custody clients—surfaced without fanfare inside Fullerton courtroom N-11 in June 2016. That’s when Superior Court Judge Michael A. Leversen presided over the trial of Hugo Jovanny Jimenez. Prosecutors accused the 23-year-old Stanton resident of […]
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Todd Spitzer Tries to Rain on OCDA Tony Rackauckas’ Golden State Killer Parade
Tony Rackauckas, his prosecutors, his investigators and his crime lab were praised by the district attorneys of Tulare, Ventura, Sacramento, Contra Costa and Santa Barabara counties as they stood by the Orange County DA, who announced Tuesday morning alleged Golden State Killer Joseph James DeAngelo will be tried in the state capital. “Tony Rackauckas has […]
What the Lamestream Media Doesn’t Want You to Know About Forrest Gordon Clark and the Holy Fire
Shortly after 1 p.m. on Aug. 6, cabin 15 on Trabuco Creek Road burst into flames. By 7 p.m., approximately 1,200 acres of the Cleveland National Forest had burned. Cabin 15, owned by a man named Frank R. (authorities had not released his full name as of press time), was the first of 14 cabins […]
Golden State Killer Book Reveals OC Crime Lab’s Deception in Murder Cases
Crime clues occasionally appear at the most unexpected of times and places, which in one particular case isn’t good news for Bruce Houlihan, director of the Orange County Crime Lab. In part of my research to write a recent cover story related to the Golden State Killer’s ties to Orange County, I read Michelle McNamara’s […]
Heavy Metal Jesus Forrest Gordon Clark is Arraigned for Holy Fire
An interesting scene unfolded at the O.C. Central Courthouse unfolded today as Forrest Gordon Clark–the man under investigation for starting the Holy Fire, aka White Trash Jesus–appeared before Commissioner Vickie L. Hix for arraignment. The most crucial goal for Clark was that his identity be concealed, most likely because he fears gang […]
PETA Calls for Animal Cruelty Charges Against Holy Fire Arson Suspect
People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) is calling for animal cruelty counts to be added to the criminal charges against Holy Fire arson suspect Forrest Gordon Clark. The 51-year-old, who appeared in the jail courtroom today after refusing to come out of his cell the day before, is currently charged with one felony […]
Suspect in Holy Fire Refuses to Show Up in Court (And Once Tried to Kick My Brother’s Ass!)
A red haze filled with ash from the Holy Fire hung across Orange County this morning. 20,000 residents from Orange and Riverside Counties are under mandatory evacuation as the 9,600 acre fire burns toward communities near Lake Elsinore. Meanwhile, somewhere deep inside Orange County Men’s Jail in Santa Ana, 51-year-old Forrest Gordon Clark–the man charged […]
White Trash Jesus Faces Crucifixion for Holy Fire Today
A Trabuco Canyon resident who last week allegedly threatened “this place will burn” is scheduled to appear in court today on charges of igniting the Holy Fire that started there Monday and has so far destroyed 14 structures, forced evacuations of schools and neighborhoods and burned 6,200 acres of land in Orange and Riverside counties. […]
Did Wrongful Conviction Built on Tainted OC Snitch Fuel Golden State Killer’s Spree?
As she prepared for bed on the final night of her life, 28-year-old Orange County resident Joan Virginia Anderson donned a blue nightgown and put her two kids—an infant girl and a 3-year-old boy—to bed. In the wee hours of that morning—March 8, 1979—Anderson found herself awakened in bed by an intruder while her husband […]
Diane Harkey Campaigns for Congress on Ethics Platform While Her Husband is Labeled a Swindler
The California Court of Appeal has affirmed a multi-million-dollar Ponzi scheme judgment against the husband of Orange County Republican congressional candidate Diane Harkey, who is hoping to defeat her Democratic Party opponent, Mike Levin, in November’s general election. Dan Harkey had urged the appellate panel to overturn the jury’s findings that he breached his fiduciary […]
Has Fletcher Jones, Mercedes Sales King, Finally Escaped Second Bad Marriage?
In late 1997—years before he’d reach superrich status by owning the world’s most successful Mercedes-Benz dealership in Newport Beach, Fletcher Jones became enthralled with girlfriend Kimberly, whose $88,000 net worth at the time mostly consisted of jewelry gifts from her paramour, a man who’d by then amassed an $18 million fortune. Jones—well-known in Southern California […]
DA Tony Rackauckas Continues Unethical Discovery Practices After Court Rebuke
Though in reality he was already well aware and supportive of the illegal conduct, Tony Rackauckas two years ago claimed his Orange County district attorney’s office (OCDA) finally discovered evidence–a Special Handling Log, to be precise—that proved sheriff’s deputies in the jails had run unconstitutional scams with informants targeting pre-trial defendants and then hid records […]
Judge Gives Orange County Man Last Chance in Lawsuit Against Rapper Cardi B
Inside Santa Ana’s stately Ronald Reagan Federal Courthouse, U.S. District Court Judge Cormac J. Carney will soon decide whether to advance an unusual lawsuit involving rapper Cardi B and a controversial alleged depiction of cunnilingus on her Gangsta Bitch Music Vol. 1 album cover. Costa Mesa’s Kevin Michael Brophy, Jr. filed a 2017 complaint alleging that the […]
Newport Beach Cops Lose Demand to End Lawsuit Over Taxi Fare Dispute
A private attorney representing the city of Newport Beach insists two police officers—who pummeled and jailed an unarmed 4-foot, 11-inch female over a pending $16.70 private taxi bill—were actually “trying to help a drunk woman pay her cab driver and avoid arrest.” That’s part of the argument Irvine-based lawyer Brian Wright-Bushman made in hopes of […]
Man Gets Life for Kidnapping, Torturing and Mutilating Local Dispensary Owner
Earlier this year, it took less than two hours for an Orange County jury to find Kyle Shirakawa Handley, 36, guilty in the 2012 kidnapping, torture and sexual mutilation of a local medical marijuana dispensary owner. On Friday, Orange County Superior Court Judge Gregg L. Prickett handed down the maximum penalty of four life sentences […]
Cevichería Nais Chef Danny Godinez at Center of Lawsuit Battle With El Mercado
Two Mexican restaurants on the edge of Santa Ana’s gentrified East End Promenade oppose each other in more ways than one. El Mercado Modern Cuisine rests near the Yost Theater with its heralded cocktails and concept menu featuring flavors from different Mexican states. Across the way from El Mercado is Cevichería Nais, the newest spot […]
SoCal Cop Tied To Organized Crime Faces “Short” Prison Stint
The oddest recent part of the already bizarre story of a Southern California cop accused of conducting a secret alliance with organized crime characters isn’t that a judge ordered the Los Angeles Times to remove contents of last week’s guilty plea from an already published article. John Saro Balian admitted to charges of obstruction of […]
Little Saigon Identity Thief Craves High-End Stolen Products, Ignores Surveillance Cam
If you’re an identity thief, make sure you abuse your victims inside surveillance-camera loaded shopping areas, which is exactly what federal officials claim Orange County’s Khanhloc Pham did this year in Las Vegas and at South Coast Plaza in Costa Mesa. According to a United States Postal Inspection Service report, Pham—a Garden Grove resident already […]
Chinese Communist Spy Stealing U.S. Military Technology Pleads Guilty in OC
A 33-year-old Chino Hills resident—who provided accounting services for American aerospace companies, including U.S. defense contractors—pleaded guilty this week in Orange County to illegally transferring sensitive military technology to the People’s Republic of China. Si Chen (a.k.a. Cathy Chen) sent advanced radar, military-grade communications jammers, low-noise amplifiers and Ka-band space communications to Hong Kong in […]
Southern California Postal Employees Indicted for Stealing Gift Cards
A Southern California federal grand jury has indicted two U.S. Postal Service employees for stealing mailed corporate gift cards. Based on the investigatory work of federal law enforcement officials, the citizens’ panel this month charged Ronald Hinck and Crystal Fagan on July 3 for illegally pocketing merchandise intended for their customers. Fagan—a.k.a. Crystal Faganleake—used her […]
Federal Judge Rejects Fired Newport Beach Police Officer’s Lawsuit
A terminated Newport Beach Police Department (NBPD) sergeant this week lost his due process lawsuit challenging his five-year-old firing for, among other things, dishonesty, accepting gratuities and engaging in improper personal contacts with a confidential informant who was a convicted drug dealer and identity thief. Peterson’s 2106 complaint asserted that he’d been fired by a […]
