Michael S Carona

One of Orange County Sheriff Michael S. Carona's top assistants Thursday criticized a proposed initiative to take sales tax revenue from his department and give it to firefighters, a move that caused the firefighters union to accuse Carona of backing down from a campaign pledge and threatening their support for him. The Orange County Professional Firefighters Assn. supported Carona's campaign for sheriff in 1998, in part because he promised to support sharing sales tax revenue with firefighters.

A judge on Friday refused to dismiss a criminal case against an Orange County sheriff's captain accused of soliciting campaign cash for her boss and ordered an April jury trial. Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge Dewey L. Falcone ruled that Capt. Christine Murray failed to prove she was the victim of discriminatory prosecution. "You're asking me to draw an inference I don't think is justified based on what I've seen," he told Murray's attorney, Jennifer Keller.

Former Orange County Sheriff Michael S. Carona has lost his bid to have a prosecutor removed from his corruption case because of the prosecutor's role in the wiretapping of a government informant. Carona's attorneys had argued that Assistant U.S. Atty. Brett Sagel should be disqualified because he was the best witness regarding a bogus subpoena that former Assistant Sheriff Don Haidl took with him when he met with Carona and secretly taped conversations.

A contentious race for the next sheriff of Orange County will be decided in 18 days, prompting complaints from both camps of improper campaign activity. Last week, Sheriff's Sgt. Michael Harnish circulated a memo ordering deputies to remove stickers or decals from police vehicles and warned them against advocating for candidates while on duty after he spotted a "Paul Walters for Sheriff" decal on the back of a patrol car. Santa Ana Police Chief Paul Walters is running against Marshal Michael S.

An Orange County sheriff's sergeant warned more than two years ago that documents may have been altered to support the appointments of 86 reserve deputies who are political allies and friends of the sheriff, according to a confidential memo. The sergeant reported the perceived problems after reviewing the files and warned that Sheriff Michael S. Carona could be unwittingly put in the position of lying about appointment dates to the state commission that credentials police agencies.

An Orange County woman who launched a foundation to protect children from sexual predators, after her 5-year-old daughter was abducted and murdered, on Tuesday honored 15 men and women who have helped carry out her cause. Erin Runnion, the keynote speaker at the inaugural Samantha's Pride fundraiser and awards ceremony in Newport Beach, also paid tribute to state Atty. Gen. Bill Lockyer and Orange County Sheriff Michael S. Carona as supporters of the Joyful Child Foundation.

A Folsom Prison inmate who claims to have supplied drugs to Broadcom Corp. billionaire Henry T. Nicholas III maintains in a federal racketeering lawsuit that he also delivered cocaine to Henry Samueli, the Anaheim Ducks owner and Nicholas' Broadcom co-founder, and former Orange County Sheriff Michael S. Carona. Brian Sun, Carona's attorney, said the allegation was "absolutely preposterous and a complete fabrication." Samueli attorney Gordon Greenberg didn't respond to phone calls and an e-mail.

When a paintball firm began exploring the idea of opening a range in Orange County, they turned to an unlikely source: Sheriff Michael S. Carona. After Carona met with the business partners, one of Carona's associates told them the sheriff would do his best to help out with the deal but that it would cost them thousands of dollars, according to a federal criminal indictment made public last week. So, the indictment says, the businessmen ponied up $25,000 for Carona's influence in landing a site.

Near the gravel pits and scrap yards of east Los Angeles County, Donald Haidl made his fortune auctioning road-weary cars and trucks from lease fleets and government motor pools. The sales paid for homes in Newport Beach and Las Vegas, a private plane and a yacht named Quickhammer, after its bid-calling owner. Even Haidl's office in the City of Industry, a stucco box overlooking cracked asphalt and barbed wire, had expensive touches, including a Jacuzzi and private dressing room.

Lawyers for former Orange County Sheriff Michael S. Carona made one of the most pivotal arguments in his corruption case Friday, asking a judge to prohibit jurors from hearing secret recordings in which Carona reportedly discussed hiding evidence that he illegally received cash and gifts. Carona's lawyers said the recordings should be excluded because federal law prohibits prosecutors from contacting a target who has an attorney, even through a third party.