Scott Sanders (attorney)

Scott Loren Sanders[3] (born October 6, 1966) is an American criminal defense lawyer and an advocate for both criminal justice and police reform.

Scott Sanders
Born
Scott Loren Sanders

(1966-10-06) October 6, 1966[1][2]
EducationUniversity of Wisconsin–Madison
Emory University (J.D.)
OccupationLawyer

Early life and education

Sanders grew up in the Chicago, Illinois area. He went on to receive an undergraduate degree at the University of Wisconsin and attended Emory University School of Law in Atlanta.[4]

Sanders has worked in the Orange County Public Defender's office since the 1990s.[4] Sanders has handled several high profile cases in the office.[5]

Jail house informant scandal

He was appointed to represent Scott Dekraai who was accused of killing eight people in the 2011 Seal Beach shooting. During the course of representing Dekraii, Sanders uncovered that prosecutors from the Orange County District Attorney's Office and law enforcement agencies used jailhouse informants to build their cases against defendants, but they would withhold that evidence from defense attorneys.[4] He learned that informants received reduced sentences or cash for getting other defendants to reveal incriminating evidence.[6]

After Sanders uncovered the secret practice, the Orange County District Attorney's Office was removed from the case following a ruling by Judge Thomas Goethals that the office had violated Dekraai's rights by improperly withholding evidence from the defense. Goethals assigned California Attorney General Kamala Harris to take over the prosecution. Harris's office announced its intention to appeal the decision, which was ultimately denied.[7][8] Several murder and attempted murder cases have unraveled since Sanders unearthed the secret practices.[9] In August 2017, Goethals ruled that Dekraai was ineligible to receive the death penalty due to the purported prosecutorial misconduct in the case.[10] Dekraai was sentenced to eight terms of life imprisonment without parole and one term of seven years to life for attempted murder.

Sanders claimed California Attorney General Xavier Becerra and United States Attorney General Jeff Sessions have turned a blind eye to the use of jailhouse informants. Sanders discovered that more than 140 cases might have been mishandled due to the use of jailhouse informants. Sanders claimed that it is the largest jailhouse informant scandal in United States history.[11]

References
  1. Scott Sanders’ Role of a Lifetime
  2. United States Public Records, 1970-2009 (California, 1989-1998)
  3. "Scott Loren Sanders # 159406 - Attorney Licensee Search".
  4. "Is Scott Sanders the most polarizing man in Orange County?". Orange County Register. 2015-10-12. Retrieved 2019-03-24.
  5. Heller, Matthew (2016-07-13). "Scott Sanders' Role of a Lifetime". Orange Coast Magazine. Retrieved 2019-03-24.
  6. Journal, A. B. A. "Meet the California public defender who is 'shaking the Orange County legal system to its bedrock'". ABA Journal. Retrieved 2019-03-24.
  7. "O.C. salon murder case stalls as D.A. office's removal is appealed", Los Angeles Times, March 21, 2015.
  8. Saavedra, Tony (March 21, 2015). "'This ship has sunk:' Families fed up with further delays in Scott Dekraai case". The Orange County Register. Retrieved March 24, 2015.
  9. "Jailhouse informants an issue again as judge delays sentencing of gang member murder case". Orange County Register. 2015-04-03. Retrieved 2019-03-24.
  10. Ferner, Matt (November 15, 2017). "Judge drops death penalty option in mass murder case tainted by misconduct". Huffington Post. Retrieved August 18, 2017.
  11. New Evidence In California Jail Snitch Scandal Raises Questions About State, Federal Probes
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