The Antelope Valley Times

Your community. Your issues. Your news.

  • Home
  • Latest News
  • Local
    • Palmdale
    • Lancaster
    • Los Angeles County
    • Littlerock
    • Lake Los Angeles
    • Rosamond
    • Edwards AFB
    • Acton
  • Crime
  • Politics
  • Education
  • Health
  • Business
  • Opinion
    • Advertise
    • About
    • Contact Us
    • Facebook
    • Twitter
    Show Search

Testimony concludes in Baca corruption case, closing arguments set for Monday

by City News Service • March 9, 2017

Lee Baca retired from the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department in 2014 at the height of the federal probe. He had been sheriff since December 1998.

LOS ANGELES – Testimony concluded Thursday in the federal obstruction of justice retrial of former Sheriff Lee Baca, who’s accused of orchestrating a scheme to thwart an FBI investigation into inmate mistreatment in the jails he ran and of lying to the bureau.

Closing arguments are scheduled to begin Monday morning. No proceedings are scheduled Friday due to an attorney’s illness.

The defense rested after calling a single witness — Michael Gennaco, a former civil rights prosecutor and longtime police use-of-force consultant — who told jurors that Baca was instrumental in the creation of the Office of Independent Review, a civilian watchdog group that provided oversight of misconduct in the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department. He said Baca was highly supportive of the group’s endeavors.

But Assistant U.S. Attorney Brandon Fox pointed out during cross- examination that the committee was not an enforcement agency and had little power to draw back the curtains on what was occurring at the department.

Before resting his case, Fox called Andre Birotte Jr., formerly the top federal prosecutor in the region — he has since been appointed as a federal judge — to tell of a heated meeting he attended with Baca and Steven Martinez, who was in charge of the FBI office in Los Angeles at the time.

“I’m the G-D sheriff, these are my G-D jails,” he quoted Baca as saying.

During two weeks of testimony, prosecutors have sought to prove to jurors that Baca, 74, was at the heart of a scheme carried out by his subordinates to hide a federal informant from the FBI and intimidate an agent working on the case.

Nine others, including former Undersheriff Paul Tanaka, have been convicted of related charges.

Birotte said Baca, whom he had known for years, was the most upset he had ever seen him in phone calls and meetings after the sheriff learned that FBI agents had smuggled a cell phone to the informant by bribing a corrupt sheriff’s deputy as part of an undercover sting.

Baca, who ran the nation’s largest sheriff’s department for more than 15 years, is accused of conspiracy, obstruction of justice and making false statements — charges that could send him to prison for years if he is convicted.

The retired lawman was tried in December on the first two counts, and prosecutors had planned a second trial on the lying count. But a mistrial was declared after jurors deadlocked 11-1 in favor of acquitting the former sheriff, and U.S. District Judge Percy Anderson combined all three counts in the retrial, which began Feb. 22 with jury selection.

The charges partly stem from a 2011 incident in which two sheriff’s investigators confronted an FBI agent in the driveway leading into her apartment and falsely told her they were in the process of obtaining a warrant for her arrest. Baca denies having advance knowledge of the illegal attempt to intimidate the agent.

Although the prosecution’s string of witnesses mirrored those in the first trial, defense attorney Nathan Hochman was barred by the judge from again presenting evidence of “prior good works” related to Baca’s years as leader of the sheriff’s department. Anderson ruled that such evidence does not directly pertain to the charges for which he is being tried.

Hochman also wanted the jury to hear medical testimony that Baca has been suffering from Alzheimer’s disease for years. The judge shot that down, calling such proposed testimony a “waste of time.” Baca’s attorneys contend the ex-sheriff is in the early stages of Alzheimer’s disease and suffered some cognitive impairment as long as six years ago.

Previous related stories:

Witness: Phone records, emails suggest Baca kept apprised of scheme

Prosecutor blasts Baca for “abuse of Power”; defense lays blame on undersheriff

Jury selection continues for retrial of ex-Sheriff Lee Baca

Jury selection for Baca retrial to start Feb. 22

Judge rules against Baca’s lapel pin, cufflinks pending

Baca to be retried on corruption charges

Baca corruption trial ends in mistrial as jurors deadlock

–

Filed Under: Crime/ Safety

2 comments for "Testimony concludes in Baca corruption case, closing arguments set for Monday"

  1. Realpeople says

    March 13, 2017 at 11:08 am

    I think he should be hanged, he played with people and their lives. So he should lose his! Why not? Lost what he was there for, so in turn should lose his life!

    • Alby there says

      March 13, 2017 at 6:05 pm

      The F.B.I. outta put him in a dark hole for 2 years and feed him twice a day. Then put him in general population with all the people he and his crooked cronies locked up. Hmm, I wonder how long he would last. I’d rather know that he is prison booty rather than getting hanged. And the same thing goes for stupid lancaster cops that can’t tell their ass from a hole in the ground. I get the impression that they are related or in bed with tweekers. For the deputies that know common sense and have done their job the right way, this message ain’t directed towards you by all means.

Recent Comments

  • East Lancaster on Readers Speak Out! (January 2023): “Judging from your posts, it’s no surprise that you would vote for Rex. Unfortunately, there are a couple thousand others…” Jan 29, 10:19
  • Tim Scott on Siblings of Lancaster woman testify she abused her children: “The court generally doesn’t just hand over the money to ‘the family’ and move on to the next case. When…” Jan 29, 09:25
  • Stinger on Readers Speak Out! (January 2023): “God is God. Religion is a creation of man. The two do not necessarily intersect.” Jan 29, 09:21
  • Stinger on Readers Speak Out! (January 2023): “Go Purple!” Jan 29, 09:16
  • Demone boyd on Raising Cane’s is one step closer to new Palmdale location: “Well like to apply” Jan 28, 22:00

Copyright © 2023 · The AV Times LLC. All rights reserved. Terms of Use