A Newport Beach businessman testified Monday that he paid former Orange County Assistant Sheriff George Jaramillo at least $25,000 in bribes in an attempt to win the department's support for a computer chip he designed to stop fleeing vehicles.
Charles H. Gabbard, who turns 69 this week, said the money was camouflaged as "consulting fees" on company checks that were written out to Jaramillo and his wife, Lisa, whom Gabbard said never did any consulting work for him.
The testimony came during a court hearing in which Gabbard, because of his failing health, was allowed to testify against Jaramillo. Prosecutors feared Gabbard would die before taking the witness stand in a trial.
Gabbard's allegations were immediately attacked outside court by defense attorney Joseph G. Cavallo, who called the inventor a "pathological liar" bent on revenge against Jaramillo for turning his back on Gabbard after learning that Gabbard had a criminal past, serving several state prison terms in the 1960s and '70s.
"He's trying to bamboozle this court," Cavallo said in the hallway of the Harbor Justice Center in Newport Beach, moments after court adjourned for the day. "If George wanted to hide something, why wouldn't he just take cash?" He also noted that Jaramillo claimed it on a disclosure form.
Prosecutors allege that from 2000 to 2002, Jaramillo helped arrange demonstrations that were held to showcase a device that Gabbard's company, CHG Safety Technologies, had developed to disable cars during high-speed chases -- misusing deputies from a specialized patrol unit, squad cars and other county equipment.
If convicted, Jaramillo, who was fired by Sheriff Michael S. Carona a year ago, would face up to nine years in prison on six felony counts of misappropriation of public funds and four misdemeanor conflict-of-interest charges. Erica Hill, his sister-in-law and a former CHG employee, could face up to three years on three counts of misappropriation of public funds for allegedly helping him stage the demonstrations. Each has pleaded not guilty and remains free on $25,000 bond.
Until Monday, Gabbard had maintained that he paid Jaramillo as a consultant. It is an account he repeated in at least four interviews with authorities.
Gabbard, who has advanced emphysema, was called to the witness stand for a conditional examination, in which a witness essentially provides death-bed testimony.
