SANTA ANA, Calif. (KNX) — A coalition of civil rights advocacy groups, including the American Civil Liberties Union of Southern California, have asked the office of California Attorney General Rob Bonta to investigate allegations of racial bias within the Orange County District Attorney’s Office.
The allegations arise from comments reportedly made by D.A. Todd Spitzer while discussing a capital murder case with other prosecutors.
In a letter released Friday, the groups wrote that the comments Spitzer allegedly made while deliberating over whether to seek the death penatly against a BLack murder defendant have “illuminated injustices within the county’s criminal legal system.”
“This controversy serves as just the latest confirmation of what has been apparent for years: the policies and practices of the OCDA are stained by systemic racism and bias that produce measurable harms against Black and Brown people in Orange County,” the letter from more than a dozen community groups reads.
Officials with the D.A.’s office have confirmed they received the letter and were reviewing, but have not offered further comment.
During an Oct. 2021 meeting about whether to seek the death penalty against murder defendant Jamon Buggs, who was accused of killing a white couple, Spitzer allegedly inquired about the race of Buggs’ ex-girlfriends. He reasoned he knew “many Black people who enhance their status by only dating [white people,” according to a memorandum written by another prosecutor assigned to the Buggs case.
In a statement responding to the letter, Spitzer himself called the groups “pro-criminal and anti-victim,” alleging “their only interest is ruining our safe communities.”
Spitzer said he was “not going to let these blatantly political tactics ruin our public safety.”
The D.A. claimed he was trying to determine whether racial themes were present in the case, and has acknowledged that he “used an example that was insensitive” and “inartful.”
The O.C. Office of Independent Review has opened an investigation into the D.A.’s remarks. But the office has no power to discipline a sitting D.A.
Spitzer’s opponents in an upcoming June 7 primary for the D.A.’s seat have urged him to resign in the wake of the memo’s release.
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