Orange County Sheriff S Department

Before they were interrupted by an extended holiday recess, jurors in the federal corruption trial of "America's sheriff" had listened to hours of testimony and undercover tapes that prosecutors said chronicled the alleged bawdy behavior, bribes and blatant greed that framed the indictment of Michael S. Carona.

The ACLU has asked the Orange County Sheriff's Department to restrict the use of Tasers in most cases, saying hundreds of people have died nationally after being shocked by the stun guns during encounters with police. The American Civil Liberties Union delivered a sharply worded 10-page letter to Sheriff Sandra Hutchens on Tuesday, urging her to limit the department's use of Tasers to incidents in which there is a threat of "death or serious bodily injury."

Prosecutors on Tuesday painted a disturbing picture of former Orange County Sheriff Michael S. Carona's management of California's second-largest sheriff's department, citing testimony that he accepted secret cash payments, had numerous illicit sexual affairs, and provided badges and concealed weapons licenses to campaign contributors. In his closing argument, Assistant U.S. Atty.

A former Orange County assistant sheriff who was fired and sent to jail in a perjury conviction is in line to get a big pay day -- about three years of back pay with benefits for wrongful termination. The tentative ruling in the wrong termination case was issued Friday by Orange County Superior Court Judge Andrew Banks.

Orange County Sheriff Michael S. Carona intends to return to work Monday, ending a 60-day paid leave of absence initiated after he was charged with corruption in a federal grand jury indictment. It remained unclear how much time Carona would spend in the sheriff's Santa Ana headquarters when he returns to work. In a statement, the department said Undersheriff Jo Ann Galisky would continue to handle day-to-day operations after Carona's return.

Orange County Sheriff Michael S. Carona's announcement Monday that he was quitting his post to fight public corruption charges left the state's second-largest sheriff's department in upheaval. As he departed, Carona took steps to leave his political imprint on the department, firing one of his assistant sheriffs, Dan Martini, without explanation, and appointing as interim sheriff one of his biggest loyalists.

Costs are quickly mounting in Orange County's effort to invalidate its pension agreement with sheriff's deputies, public records show. The county has already paid a total of more than half a million dollars to four law firms in the last year to research and develop a strategy for a legal challenge -- and that's before supervisors have even decided to take the case to court.

The state attorney general is reviewing whether interim Orange County Sheriff Jack Anderson broke the law by appearing in uniform while trying to dissuade the San Clemente City Council from endorsing a former sheriff's lieutenant as a replacement for indicted Sheriff Michael S. Carona, who later resigned. During a council meeting in November, shortly after Carona was indicted on corruption charges, Anderson, then an assistant sheriff, told the council members that Lt.

Talked out of lobbying for a former sheriff's lieutenant to replace indicted and now retired Sheriff Michael S. Carona last year, the San Clemente City Council had second thoughts late Tuesday. The council agreed Tuesday night to write a letter to Orange County supervisors asking them to appoint former Lt. Bill Hunt as a permanent replacement for Carona, who is facing federal corruption charges.

Orange County's acting Sheriff Jack Anderson on Thursday proposed pulling hundreds of deputies from the state's second-largest jail system and replacing them with career correctional officers. The move, which would dramatically change the way Orange County jails are operated, would create a new career path in the Sheriff's Department: employees who are permanently assigned to the county jails.