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Orange County’s District Attorney office could soon find itself facing a jury trial like never before.
OC’s current top prosecutor, Todd Spitzer, finds himself in the center of an ongoing lawsuit by an investigator inside his own office – one alleging he engaged in “money laundering, terrorist threats, extortion and solicitation of bribes.”
Spitzer, in turn, has labeled Damon Tucker, the investigator in question who also worked for his predecessor, DA Tony Rackauckas, “an unethical cop misusing taxpayer resources to try to dig up dirt for his friends on a political enemy.”
County supervisors are going behind closed doors today to discuss the matter for the second time in the last year and a half.
A jury trial is scheduled for September.
Former DA Rackauckas launched an investigation into Spitzer – then a county supervisor in the midst of a 2018 campaign against him.
That investigation was leaked to the press, after which Tucker was assigned to figure out who leaked it.
Spitzer later won election as DA.
Soon afterward, Tucker – who continued to investigate allegations of corruption against Spitzer – was fired.
Despite Spitzer’s complaints about Tucker’s conduct, an independent arbiter hired by the sheriff’s union and the DA’s office found he was improperly let go in 2022.
Tucker was then rehired by the DA’s office.
To review a copy of the arbitration award, click here.
Despite being reinstated, Tucker is still in the midst of a years-long lawsuit with Spitzer over his firing that could soon go to trial in just a couple of months.
Neda Roshanian, one of Tucker’s lawyers, said they’re ready to get a jury trial going in a Monday phone call.
“They don’t want to try this,” Roshanian said. “The plaintiffs have been ready and are ready to go.”
Tucker first made headlines in 2021 when he sued Spitzer, claiming the county prosecutor improperly fired him after Tucker investigated Spitzer according to his legal claim.
Spitzer’s office did not return multiple requests for comment from Voice of OC on Monday.
Michael Leb, the independent arbitration expert who reviewed Tucker’s case, wrote in 2022 that the DA’s office broke the rules when it fired Tucker for his investigation.
“The County justifies the termination by pointing to alleged bias, conflict, ethical and policy violations, and general overreaching by Tucker in pursuit of some sort of vendetta against Spitzer,” Lev wrote.
“The County gives not so much as a passing nod,” he continued. “To the conflicts of interest, inconsistencies, and departures from procedure on the part of the decision-makers which permeate this entire matter.”
Leb also noted that this case’s position between Rackauckas and Spitzer’s conflicting political campaigns set up a highly politicized environment that infected both sides of the issue.
“The key players are all seasoned politicians, attorneys or sworn law enforcement officers,” Leb wrote. “This case simmered for years in a highly charged cauldron and finally boiled over … this whole thing is rife with conflict.”
Leb noted that Tucker should not have investigated Spitzer given that Tucker had “openly expressed his dislike,” for the DA and asked to not be assigned the case of investigating another investigator for a leaked report clearing Spitzer of wrongdoing amidst the 2018 election.
“It was not reasonable to assume that Tucker would not have to, in essence, also investigate Spitzer,” Leb wrote.
But Leb also said that the “process in this case was far from fair,” and called out the county for improperly removing Tucker from the case and not referring his investigation to an outside prosecutor to investigate Spitzer.
“In the end, the matter was never forwarded to the Attorney General or other agency. Instead, Tucker was terminated by a superior who he asserted was involved in the cover up,” Leb wrote in his closing.
“What we have is the career-ending termination of an outstanding employee for taking on an investigation he expressly asked not to be assigned and then doggedly attempting to get that evidence to an outside agency,” he continued. “He reasonably believed there was evidence of wrongdoing by the incoming District Attorney which was being ignored or covered up by his superiors.”
Noah Biesiada is a Voice of OC reporter and corps member with Report for America, a GroundTruth initiative. Contact him at nbiesiada@voiceofoc.org or on Twitter @NBiesiada.
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