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Orange County DA Prosecutes Wrong Woman, Press Fails To Hold DA Accountable

Posted by Richard Wagner | Jan 14, 2017

Orange County DA Prosecutes Wrong Woman

The LA Times reported the Orange County District Attorney extradited a woman from Arizona to Orange County to face 10 felony charges, including false imprisonment, kidnapping, perjury, forgery, and 22 misdemeanor counts.

Buried in the story, however, is the real story the reporter should have highlighted: The DA's office had (twice) arrested the victim in the case and filed 10 felony charges against her, causing the victim to spend 88 days in jail and the possibility spending the rest of her life in prison.

When someone who's innocent … gets arrested and charged with a crime, that's not just a bad day — it's a nightmare.” Orange County District Attorney Tony Rackauckas.

No apology. No admission of doing anything wrong. No acceptance of responsibility. The DA merely regurgitated what the victim told reporters about the experience being “such a nightmare for me.”

Why would the DA say anything differently if the press refuses to engage in actual investigative journalism and discharge its watchdog function? This article shows how big-time newspapers act like submissive lapdogs as part of the power oligarchy as opposed to fulfilling their watchdog role. This poor woman spent 88 days in jail for no reason! She will not be the last. We all would be better served if the press exposed wrongdoing, questioned the establishment, and held the powerful to account.

About the Author

Richard Wagner

Attorney Profile Defense Lawyer Richard Wagner upholds and defends freedoms and liberties enshrined in our United States and California Constitutions.  “Richard was able to achieve an even better outcome for my case than what we initially thought was possible. I couldn't be more grateful to h...

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