Los Angeles Criminal Courts Bar Association

An effort to catalogue the criminal cases in which jailhouse informants acted as witnesses has been complicated by a rift between prosecutors conducting an official inquiry and defense attorneys who are pursuing their own independent investigation.

The California attorney general's office has agreed to appoint a special counsel to advise the Los Angeles County Grand Jury in an investigation into the use of jailhouse informants, two judges and a grand jury source familiar with the pledge said Monday. The attorney general's agreement was made in a letter to the grand jury earlier this month, the sources said, and was conditioned upon the Los Angeles County counsel's office declining to provide an attorney to advise the grand jury in a probe.

Two leading criminal defense lawyer groups, upset by the specter of the district attorney's office investigating itself, will ask that a special prosecutor be named to probe the district attorney's use of jailhouse informants. Citing an obscure section of state law, the defense groups said Saturday that they will shortly ask the presiding judge of Los Angeles Superior Court to choose a prominent attorney and designate him as a special prosecutor.

An effort to catalogue the criminal cases in which jailhouse informants acted as witnesses has been complicated by a rift between prosecutors conducting an official inquiry and defense attorneys who are pursuing their own independent investigation.

The California attorney general's office has agreed to appoint a special counsel to advise the Los Angeles County Grand Jury in an investigation into the use of jailhouse informants, two judges and a grand jury source familiar with the pledge said Monday. The attorney general's agreement was made in a letter to the grand jury earlier this month, the sources said, and was conditioned upon the Los Angeles County counsel's office declining to provide an attorney to advise the grand jury in a probe.

Spurred by a controversy over the use of jailhouse informants, the Los Angeles County district attorney's office, the Sheriff's Department and the Los Angeles Police Department told a Superior Court judge Friday that they will preserve any records they have of such informants. The district attorney's office and the Police Department told the judge that they had no problems saving such records. But the Sheriff's Department, which operates the county's jails, indicated that it had a problem.

Two leading defense lawyer organizations Thursday formally asked for a special prosecutor to conduct a grand jury investigation into what they described as a jailhouse informant scandal that is "threatening to undermine public confidence in our system of justice" in Los Angeles County. The groups are the California Attorneys for Criminal Justice, a statewide organization of 2,100 criminal defense lawyers, and the Los Angeles Criminal Courts Bar Assn.

Spurred by a controversy over the use of jailhouse informants, the Los Angeles County district attorney's office, the Sheriff's Department and the Los Angeles Police Department told a Superior Court judge Friday that they will preserve any records they have of such informants. The district attorney's office and the Police Department told the judge that they had no problems saving such records. But the Sheriff's Department, which operates the county's jails, indicated that it had a problem.

Two leading defense lawyer organizations Thursday formally asked for a special prosecutor to conduct a grand jury investigation into what they described as a jailhouse informant scandal that is "threatening to undermine public confidence in our system of justice" in Los Angeles County. The groups are the California Attorneys for Criminal Justice, a statewide organization of 2,100 criminal defense lawyers, and the Los Angeles Criminal Courts Bar Assn.

Two leading criminal defense lawyer groups, upset by the specter of the district attorney's office investigating itself, will ask that a special prosecutor be named to probe the district attorney's use of jailhouse informants. Citing an obscure section of state law, the defense groups said Saturday that they will shortly ask the presiding judge of Los Angeles Superior Court to choose a prominent attorney and designate him as a special prosecutor.