7/30/2023 0 Comments Ocsd blotter![]() ![]() Tony Saavedra is an investigative reporter specializing in legal affairs for the Orange County Register. The department has denied in the past that any recordings were improperly accessed. He also has been accused of accessing tapes of improperly recorded conversations between jail inmates and their attorneys. LeFlore, a 17-year veteran, remains at the Sheriff’s Department. This also avoided questions about why LeFlore would have ever been assigned to investigate others for the same misconduct he committed,” Sanders said. The key was to omit from the report all of the prior evidence handling misconduct, even though it was included for the (other deputies). “The only reasonable inference is the department decided it needed to refer LeFlore to the D.A.’s Office so it would look like everyone was being treated the same, but didn’t want him actually prosecuted. Sanders said he arrived at that conclusion based on circumstantial evidence. “Indeed, the investigation of LeFlore, and the related report that was completed in August 2018, were carefully crafted to conceal critical information from the OCDA and lessen the chances that he would be prosecuted,” said the motion. But only the case involving the boots was submitted to the District Attorney’s Office for prosecution, the motion said. The evidence was booked more than 20 days late on three occasions. Then he changed his story back again, the motion said.Ĭourt documents show LeFlore on five occasions wrote in his official reports that he had placed evidence - typically documents and photos - in a sheriff’s locker when he had not. LeFlore told a supervisor that he had confiscated the ammunition, but later said he didn’t remember seizing the bullets. He never booked the property and two weeks later placed the boots - with the drugs inside - on a shelf in a sheriff’s substation, with a sign saying “Free.” LeFlore is a detective on her case.Īccording to the motion and sheriff’s officials, LeFlore, while on a service call after he ended his evidence investigation duties, had taken custody of two full boxes of bullets, 11 grams of methamphetamine and a pipe stuffed inside a pair of boots. The motion was submitted on behalf of defendant Brittany Shahbakhti, who is facing gun charges. LeFlore has since been added by prosecutors to a list of problem cops, called the Brady LIst, that is given to defense attorneys, according to the motion. More deputies, including LeFlore, remain under investigation by prosecutors and the Sheriff’s Department. Three deputies have been criminally charged for filing evidence late or not at all, with two pleading guilty to misdemeanors and one awaiting trial. “We trust that the court and the public will see this as a blatant disregard for facts and focus on the criminal actions by the public defender’s client in court, and not try a case through the media.” “The timelines and assumptions made by the Public Defender’s motion are wrong and serve to purposefully mislead,” Barnes said in a prepared statement. False assumptionsīarnes accused Sanders of making false assumptions. “OCSD leadership would have reasonably expected that, if discovered, this would raise fairness and reliability questions among others who were being investigated,” asserted Assistant Public Defender Scott Sanders in a motion seeking deputy disciplinary records. The department, however, kept silent on 17 other cases of mishandling evidence, including five in which LeFlore allegedly lied on the police reports, according to court documents filed Wednesday, June 23. Sheriff Don Barnes referred Detective Matthew LeFlore to the District Attorney’s Office for prosecution, but only mentioned one case, which was rejected by prosecutors. ![]() An Orange County sheriff’s detective who investigated deputies for mishandling evidence himself had problems booking evidence and property on time, if at all. ![]()
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