Orange County Destoy. Todd Spitzer appeared in civil trial this week, claiming he retaliated against a former executive and whistleblower who tried to protect a female prosecutor who was sexually harassed in the DA’s office.
in a lawsuit filed against the county by a former senior assistant. Atty. Tracy Miller is about to file accusations from her job after at one point the highest ranked woman, Spitzer and others in the prosecutor’s office, are accused of retaliation and Miller has questioned Spitzer’s actions.
Spitzer denied the charges during the time of testimony, sometimes tense and emotional. In San Diego court this week, Spitzer acknowledged deep tensions within the DA’s office after winning the 2018 election against the Orange County Dist. Atty. Tony Rakkaka.
Apparently swept tears during his testimony, Spitzer told the ju apprentice that he believed he was walking “in the Lions’ nest” after winning the election and expected opposition from the employees who worked at Rakka.
“I knew it would be miserable, and it was miserable,” Spitzer said as his voice cracked.
In her lawsuit, Miller is allegedly claimed by Spitzer and a former Chief Assistant Dist. Atty. Sean Nelson, now an Orange County Superior Court judge, has driven out the prosecutor through “intentionally retaliation.” Miller claims that the reason for this was she protected a female subordinate who reported sexual misconduct by her now deceased male boss, Gary Rogalbo.
“Miller was punished by Spitzer for refusing to further protect the reputation of predators, gaslights and even victims,” her lawsuit says.
Miller raised concerns about the handling of Spitzer’s DA’s office, including concerns that Spitzer violated the Race Justice Act by raising the issue of race while determining whether Spitzer would seek the death penalty against a black defendant. She also argued that Spitzer could have undermined the murder, considering the prosecutor’s competition in the mission.
However, it was allegations of sexual harassment against Spitzer’s former friend and roommate Rogarbo, and the plaintiff’s lawyer said it threatened Spitzer’s leadership the most and urged Miller to target him.
“[Spitzer] If this is believed, the (district attorney’s) office said John Burnett, the attorney representing Miller in an opening statement Monday.
The attorneys representing the county, as well as Spitzer and Nelson, argue that the man wanted Miller to remain in the prosecutor’s office, and pointed out that he valued her experience and promoted four women to top positions for her recommendations.
Defence counsel Tracy Kennedy argued in an opening statement Monday that despite Rogarbo being friends with Spitzer several years ago, the relationship had changed before the allegations were filed.
“There was no reason to protect Mr. Rogarbo at the expense of (Spitzer) Orange County DA’s office,” Kennedy said.
Instead, Spitzer and Nelson set out to do a lot of necessary reforms for the office, she said.
“They had a mission to change the DA’s office,” she said.
The county’s investigation demonstrated sexual harassment allegations against Rogarbo, but an April 2021 report found that the allegations of retaliation were unfounded as no action was taken against the employee.
Much of the time in Spitzer’s era on Tuesday was focused on his role in Rogarbo’s investigation and what appeared to be a different version of what happened. At one point during the questioning, Spitzer revealed that the version of the event he gave to county investigators during an internal investigation (a highly scrutinized private meeting with supervisors) was “inaccurate.”
Former Senior Assistant District Attorney Chris Duff told county investigators that Spitzer met him at the Westminster Court’s Law Library in January 2021, instructing him to write down one of the victims of sexual harassment in her upcoming assessment of being “disincentive.” Duff said he refused to do so, according to an internal investigation report.
Spitzer initially denied discussing the assessment during the meeting, telling investigator Elizabeth Freiter that he “never told it” to Duff because he didn’t want him to “recognise anything that we’re retaliating against her.”
However, in court this week, Spitzer offered another version of the event.
“What I said to Frater was inaccurate,” Spitzer said, adding that he discussed concerns about the integrity of female prosecutors regarding the emails she wrote. “I told Duff about it.”
However, Spitzer argued his concerns as to the truthfulness of the prosecutors, not about the allegations she raised against Rogarbo.
After Duff meets with Spitzer, Miller sends a note to Spitzer, who has been aware of the conversation to the district attorney and insists he is against writing a female prosecutor.
In his testimony, Spitzer said he was disappointed with Miller and that she had not gone directly to him with concerns about various issues.
At one point, Spitzer said he began to wonder why Miller took notes during the executive meeting.
“Every time a subject appeared, Tracy would take notes about our meeting,” Spitzer said. “There was a point when it was very interested in me. Why do you seem to commemorate everything we do?”
When he was first elected in 2018, Spitzer said he believed he was walking “in the Lions’ nest” and expected opposition from his in-person report. So he said he chose Sean Nelson as his second choice.
“I chose him because I’m going to fight in the Lions’ nest,” Spitzer said.
Miller’s case is the latest in a series of troubles that have recently struck the District Attorney’s Office, including allegations of retaliation filed by the office’s top prosecutors and investigators.
The county is also facing eight sexual harassment lawsuits, including allegations against Rogarbo.
In March, retired investigators from the office also sent letters to the California Attorney General, the U.S. Department of Justice, Barr, California and other agencies to investigate Spitzer and other senior officials from the Prosecutor’s Office.
Source link
