The Orange County prosecutor and the Orange County Sheriff's Department have reached a settlement with federal officials over the illegal use of an informant in the county jail, an incident blamed for a years-long scandal that upended the county's justice system.

On Friday, the U.S. Department of Justice announced an agreement with the Sheriff's Department requiring training, policy changes, documentation and audits to continue monitoring the use of informants in prisons. Federal prosecutors will also have access to the data to confirm whether the department has made needed reforms.

The agreement with the Sheriff's Department appears to end a years-long scandal that has plagued the county's justice system and tainted some of its most high-profile prosecutions.

Details of the illegal use of informants came to light for the first time in the trial of Scott Dekraai, who killed his ex-wife and seven others in the 2011 mass shooting in Seal Beach. people. Dekraj admitted to being the shooter, but officials still listed him as the shooter. Informant from a neighboring cell.

Decrai's attorney at the time, Orange County Assistant Public Defender Scott Sanders, accused the Sheriff's Department of placing informants near defendants to obtain confessions even when they were represented by attorneys. Prosecutors are also accused of hiding evidence of the use of informants during the trial, keeping secrets and preventing defense attorneys from obtaining exculpatory information.

The Orange County Public Defender's Office estimates that more than 50 felony trials, mostly homicides, have been tainted and affected by the whistleblower scandal.

The U.S. Department of Justice launched an investigation into the use of jailhouse informants in 2016 and said it found the informants were used as "law enforcement agents to obtain incriminating statements."

A Justice Department statement announcing the findings said that for years, officers withheld and concealed records of tracking and managing jailhouse informants, and that prosecutors "failed to identify and disclose to defense attorneys information about custodial informants." exculpatory information."

Sanders said in a statement that he hopes the agreement means better practices in the future, but he said several criminal defendants in Orange County still don't know how using informants might affect their trials. .

"This is the largest and longest-running informant scandal in American history, yet so many defendants remain in the dark about serious misconduct that unfairly tips the scales of justice," he said.

When the scandal came to light, then-Orange County Sheriff Sandra Hutchins and then-Orange County Dist. Atty. Tony Rackauckas denies the accusations. As Rackauckas ran for re-election, the scandal was a point of contention. He now loses to Dist. Atty. Todd Spitzer was sworn in in 2019.

“When I ran for Orange County District Attorney in 2019, I made it clear that I would not tolerate the previous administration’s ‘win at all costs’ mentality,” Spitzer said in a statement. “Under my guidance, OCDA has implemented a wide range of additional proactive reform measures to improve OCDA’s operations, including changes to management structure, policy, training, supervision and staffing.”

The Sheriff's Department said in a statement that it is pleased the investigation is now concluded.

“Since 2016, we have been working hard to implement comprehensive reforms regarding the detention of informants,” Sheriff Don Barnes said in a statement. “This agreement provides a framework for the Department of Justice to validate these efforts and shape our policies and practices to be among the best in the nation.”

Under the agreement, the Sheriff's Department will be required to publish information and solicit feedback on reforms related to the use of informants.

“The strong and transparent verification measures in today’s agreement will enhance public trust in the Sheriff’s Department and uphold the constitutional rights of criminal defendants in custody,” the assistant attorney said. Gen. Christine Clark of the Justice Department's Civil Rights Division. “We commend the Sheriff for being proactive and making significant improvements to prevent the abuse of custodial informants at the Orange County Jail.”

The agreement with the Orange County Sheriff's Department comes just days after the Justice Department announced it also reached an agreement with the Orange County District Attorney's Office.

The agreement also requires prosecutors to implement new policies to prevent the abuse of informants, maintain records and audits, and disclose exculpatory evidence to criminal defendants involving whistleblowers.

Among the new policies implemented, jailhouse informants must now be approved by the Sheriff, and informants used in prosecutions must be reviewed by the District Attorney's Office Internal Review Board.

“I hope these procedures will provide the necessary oversight and accountability to prevent future problems,” said Orange County Public Defender Martin F. Schwarz.

Schwartz said the agreement requires a "historical case review" of the affected cases, noting that the use of informants in investigations has repeatedly proven problematic.

"Detention informants are inherently unreliable, their testimony is one of the major causes of wrongful convictions, and their use as witnesses in criminal cases should be evaluated at the highest levels," he said.