Orange County DA retaliated against top female prosecutor in office, civil jury finds
Orange County Dist. Atty. Todd Spitzer harassed and retaliated against a high-ranking female prosecutor in his office after she raised concerns about his conduct and tried to protect other prosecutors who were sexually harassed by another superior, according to a jury verdict Thursday.
The jury, which heard the case in San Diego County to avoid potential conflicts, found Spitzer acted with "malice" against Tracy Miller, who was at one point the highest-ranking woman in the prosecutor's office.
The jury also found that the county did not take reasonable steps to prevent workplace harassment, and took "adverse employment action" against Miller.
"Tracy Miller had the fortitude to resist the most powerful law enforcement person in the county, and she prevailed," John Barnett, Miller's attorney, said after the verdict was read Thursday. "It took a lot of courage, and the jury saw that she was right."
Read more: A blood feud rocks O.C. law enforcement with claims of 'dirty cop,' 'corrupt' D.A.
The county declined to comment on the verdict and a request for comment from Spitzer's office was not immediately returned Thursday.
The jury found the county, Spitzer and Nelson liable for $3 million in damages, including $1.5 million for past emotional distress. The jury hasn't yet reached a verdict on punitive damages and was expected to hear more arguments Thursday afternoon.
Unlike criminal trials, civil trials in California do not require a unanimous verdict. In this civil case, juror decisions ranged from 12-0 to 9-3 for the various claims upheld against the defendants. The jury voted 10-2 to award punitive damages against Spitzer.
Miller sued Orange County, Spitzer, and former Chief Assistant Dist. Atty. Shawn Nelson, accusing them of retaliation and forcing Miller out after she objected to Spitzer's actions while heading the office. Miller alleged she tried to protect female prosecutors from being retaliated against after they alleged they were sexually harassed by Gary LoGalbo, a former supervisor who was also friends with Spitzer.
Former and current prosecutors in the office described a "challenging" and "demanding" environment inside the prosecutors office, but some said they faced threats of being fired or demoted.
In her testimony, Miller said Spitzer and Nelson used "gender-based slurs," disrespected her and undermined her authority in the office.
According to her suit, Miller alleged she had raised concerns that Spitzer had violated the Racial Justice Act by bringing up questions about race while determining whether or not to seek the death penalty against a Black defendant, and that Spitzer used race in case assignments.
Miller said in court that Spitzer had threatened to fire her close friends in the office, and dismantle programs she had spearheaded in retaliation.
But much of the trial centered on what occurred shortly after several female prosecutors alleged they were sexually harassed by LoGalbo, a former police officer and the best man at Spitzer's wedding.
When an internal county investigation confirmed the women were harassed, the report identified Miller and her testimony by describing her position and gender. Afterward, Miller testified, Spitzer targeted her and criticized her for writing notes during executive meetings.
"You could see anytime a subject came up, Tracy was taking notes about our meetings," Spitzer testified. "There was a point of time where it was very curious to me, why do you seem to be memorializing everything we're doing?"
Spitzer, who testified on multiple days during the trial, denied the accusations. He acknowledged deep tensions within the D.A.'s office after he assumed the role in 2018, but attributed the opposition to employees who supported the previous district attorney, Tony Rackauckas.
"I knew it was going to be miserable, and it was miserable," Spitzer said in testimony, at one point wiping away tears.
He said that was part of the reason why he chose Shawn Nelson, now a county superior court judge, as chief assistant district attorney when he first took office.
"I picked him because I was going into battle, in the lions' den," Spitzer said.
But Miller testified Nelson's actions also raised problems in the district attorney's office after the allegations of sexual harassment were made. For example, proseuctors testified that during a sexual harassment training session for managers, Nelson stood up and said there were "no victims."
The county still faces eight sexual harassment lawsuits involving allegations that were made against LoGalbo.
"It's very important for the public to know what happened," Barnett said. "I was confident that our case was strong and we were right."
Sign up for Essential California for news, features and recommendations from the L.A. Times and beyond in your inbox six days a week.
This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
San Francisco Chronicle
an hour ago
- San Francisco Chronicle
Oakland Post editor's confessed killer paroled after years in prison
The man convicted of killing an Oakland newspaper editor who was investigating the finances of a Black empowerment group in 2007 was released from prison last week, officials told the Chronicle. Devaughndre Broussard was released into parole supervision on June 5, according to a California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation spokesperson. No other details regarding his release were immediately provided. Chauncey Bailey, the editor of African-American weekly the Oakland Post, had been investigating the bankruptcy proceedings of Your Black Muslim Bakery before he was killed. Broussard, a member of the bakery group, testified in 2011 that its leader, Yusuf Bey IV, had ordered him to learn where Bailey lived and 'find out his routine,' according to a Chronicle report. 'He wanted us to take him out before he wrote that article.' Broussard confessed to killing Bailey with three shotgun blasts on Aug. 2, 2007 as Bailey was walking to work at 14th and Alice Streets in downtown Oakland, according to a previous Chronicle report. A federal judge ordered the bakery to liquidate its assets amid debt and management problems the week following Bailey's killing. Broussard was sentenced to 25 years in prison after pleading guilty to two counts of involuntary manslaughter for the slayings of Bailey and Odell Roberson, 31. Roberson was the uncle of the man who shot and killed Bey IV's brother near the former San Pablo Avenue bakery. Broussard promised to testify against Bey IV and Antoine Mackey, a former bakery associate, who was also a suspect in Bailey's killing. Bey IV was sentenced in 2011 to spend the rest of his life in prison for ordering the killings of Bailey, 57, Roberson, 31, and Michael Willis, 36. Jurors decided that Bey IV was guilty of murdering Bailey because he had ordered Broussard to pull the trigger. Mackey was convicted of two counts of first-degree murder for Bailey and Willis's killings, the Chronicle previously reported. In 2015, a state appeals court denied Bey IV and Mackey's motion to overturn their convictions, dismissing claims that their trial should have been moved from Alameda County due to negative publicity.
6 hours ago
Diddy trial day 25 recap: Prosecutors try to drop a juror over 'lack of candor'
A surprise controversy surrounding a juror erupted Wednesday as the 25th day of Sean Combs' sex trafficking trial opened. U.S. District Judge Arun Subramanian told a hushed court that he is considering removing one of the 12 jurors after prosecutors suggested the man demonstrated a "lack of candor" with the court. Neither the judge nor the attorneys in the case detailed the specific issues at work. Defense attorneys, however, took issue with the possibility that Juror No. 6 might be thrown off the panel. Noting that the juror is a middle-aged Black man from the Bronx, Combs' lawyers accused prosecutors of a "thinly veiled effort to dismiss a Black juror." It's not the first time Combs' lawyers have accused federal prosecutors of attempting to unfairly remove Black jurors. During the first week of testimony in the trial, when both sides finalized the jury, defense attorney Marc Agnifilo accused federal prosecutors of bias after most of the government's nine peremptory strikes were used on Black prospective jurors. The judge rejected the defense's challenge, saying the government had provided "race-neutral reasons" to strike the jurors. The judge told Combs and the attorneys that he would decide what to do by Friday and then Combs' lawyers resumed their cross-examination of a woman who accused the rap mogul of coercing her into sex during their three-year relationship. The woman, testifying under the pseudonym "Jane," told jurors during questioning from prosecutors that Combs strung her along for years in what she thought was a loving relationship. In reality, she testified that she was used by Combs to satisfy his extreme sexual appetites that played themselves out through days-long orgies she called "hotel nights." She testified that the drug-fueled sessions allegedly required her to have sex with male prostitutes while Combs watched, directed and masturbated to scenes of his own design. Jane told the jury that Combs threatened to stop paying her rent or to release sexually explicit videos of her if she refused to participate in the sexual escapades. Prosecutors argue that Combs used his wealth, status, and business empire to coerce both Jane and the singer Cassie Ventura -- another ex-girlfriend who was the prosecution's star witness -- into first participating in the sex parties then forcing them into silence. Combs has pleaded not guilty to the charges of sex trafficking, racketeering conspiracy and transportation to engage in prostitution. His lawyers argue that all sexual encounters were consensual and that Combs led a "polyamorous" lifestyle that was strictly legal. Defense attorneys spent most of Wednesday trying to use Jane's own words in text messages to show that she was a willing participant in Combs' sex life, not the victim of force or coercion. Defense attorneys paint Jane as a willing participant Combs' attorney Teny Geragos spent the better part of the day grilling Jane by showing the jury multiple text messages between Jane and Combs that suggested she was initiating sexual conversations. "What are you doing, baby?" Jane wrote to Combs in one message read for the jury. "Horny for me?" In one message, Geragos was able to extract from Jane the testimony that Combs obliged one time when Jane said she did not want to engage in a sex performance with a male prostitute. During another part of her testimony, Jane told the jury about two other instances when she declined to have sex with other escorts because she was not attracted to them. Jane also testified there was a two-month stretch in 2022 when there were no "hotel nights." When they were engaging in the sex parties, she testified she would buy matching shorts for Combs and the escorts to wear as well as erection pills. After Jane complained to Combs about him spending time with another woman, she said Combs invited her to leave the relationship. "It's not right how you're treating me right now and how you're doing me and the last thing I'd expect from you is coming at me sideways about a girl you like," Jane wrote. "You completely had your way with me." The message concluded, "You have me feeling so taken advantage of." Combs' response was not read aloud but Geragos characterized it as, "He was saying if the relationship was as toxic as you say you were welcome to leave, right?" Jane replied, "That's what he was saying." Defense tries to cast doubt on Jane's earlier testimony about "hotel nights" During days of direct examination, prosecutors used Jane's words to try to highlight a pattern when Combs would allegedly host Jane for a romantic weekend -- which she said she believed would not involve having sex with male escorts -- before pressuring her to participate in so-called "hotel nights." She told jurors that she regretted going on a trip in 2023 to Turks and Caicos because Combs pressured her to have sex with a male escort named Paul. On cross examination, defense attorneys introduced evidence showing Jane expressed gratitude for Combs during the trip. "You are truly a blessing in my life. have never had a man take care of me like you," Jane wrote in a text to Combs during the trip. "I feel blessed to have you in my life and I only wish to be a blessing in yours." Jane became emotional and cried as she testified about the text, saying she could not continue reading the entire message. She also testified about being pressured to have sex with three male escorts in Miami after Combs invited her to celebrate her own birthday. "I am given my gift, I'm taking a pill and awaiting an entertainer," Jane said, describing a pattern that she testified defined her relationship. Combs' attorneys, though, seized on a text message Jane sent to Combs on her way home: "Just wanted to say I loved and appreciated every detail you put together for my birthday." "You tell him you love and appreciate every detail, right?" Geragos asked.
Yahoo
6 hours ago
- Yahoo
Rally outside CBP office in Detroit condemns Trump's mass deportations
A small but vocal group of demonstrators rallied Wednesday, June 11, outside the U.S. Customs and Border Protection office on Michigan Avenue in Detroit to oppose ongoing Immigration and Customs Enforcement raids and deportations, as large-scale protests unfold in Los Angeles. Organized by BAMN — the Coalition to Defend Affirmative Action, Integration and Immigrant Rights and Fight for Equality By Any Means Necessary — the rally aimed to spotlight what activists describe as a coordinated assault on immigrant communities. "We're here to stand in solidarity with our fellow organizers and everybody in LA who's standing up. That's what we need to do in every city across the country to stop (President Donald) Trump's ethnic cleansing plan," said Nicole Conaway of Detroit, a BAMN organizer for the past 15 years. Earlier in the day, protesters also demonstrated in front of the Patrick V. McNamara Federal Building in downtown Detroit, down the block from where the evening protest was held. According to activists, five or six individuals — most of them believed to be Venezuelan — were detained after their immigration cases were dismissed in court, a practice that immigrant advocates say is becoming increasingly common. "That's happening more and more. Regardless of the outcome, people have been snatched up straight out of court — and we've known people that this has happened to," said Kate Stenvig, another BAMN organizer and Detroit resident. A spokesman for ICE did not comment specifically on the alleged arrests in Detroit, but said that ICE officers are permitted 'to conduct civil immigration enforcement actions in or near courthouses when they have credible information that leads them to believe the targeted alien(s) is or will be present at a specific location, and where such action is not precluded by laws imposed by the jurisdiction in which the enforcement action will take place.' The local protests come amid escalating tensions in Los Angeles, where Trump has deployed hundreds of National Guard troops to respond to public demonstrations against his administration's immigration crackdowns. State and city leaders have said the move has only heightened unrest. 'Trump is not just deporting criminals. He is just deporting anyone who's Black and Brown, pretty much,' Conaway said. 'It's a racist, white supremacist, fascist regime, and the way to stop it is mass collective organizing and mass action like we're seeing in LA right now.' More: ICE denies Detroit high school student's request to stay in U.S. until graduation Though Wednesday's rally in Detroit drew approximately 20 participants, it also drew support from passersby. Drivers honked their horns, and a group riding on The Michigan Pedaler cheered in solidarity. Protesters held signs reading, 'Defend your neighbors against ICE' and 'Immigrants make America Great,' while chanting, 'LA has shown the way, immigrants are here to stay.' In addition to street activism, BAMN also operates a legal wing that represents families facing deportation. Conaway said she's seen firsthand how families have been torn apart at the office they were protesting outside of. More: More foreign students in Michigan targeted for deportation, including 22 at U-M 'One of our legal clients went in for a check-in right here, to this building (on Michigan Avenue), and never came out. They were detained there,' she said. Conaway added that she believes what's at stake goes beyond immigration policy. 'If Trump can win this battle, then we're further down the road to fascism and him being a dictator and not leaving the White House without force,' she said. More: Detroit criminal deportation cases skyrocket in Trump's first 100 days A spokesman for ICE did not comment specifically on the alleged arrests in Detroit, but said that ICE officers are permitted 'to conduct civil immigration enforcement actions in or near courthouses when they have credible information that leads them to believe the targeted alien(s) is or will be present at a specific location, and where such action is not precluded by laws imposed by the jurisdiction in which the enforcement action will take place.' Several protests against ICE and Trump's immigration policies are planned throughout the country for Saturday, June 14 — the president's birthday. Organizers said BAMN, along with other activist groups, will lead a march beginning at 1 p.m. at Clark Park in Detroit. Free Press reporter Niraj Warikoo contributed to this report. Nour Rahal is a trending and breaking news reporter. Email her: nrahal@ Follow her on Twitter @nrahal1. This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Detroit activists protest ICE, show solidarity with LA demonstrations
