The shocking truth about corruption in law enforcement
Cedillos Incident :
2005-04-17
4/17/2005
By Mike Madigan
Newport Beach is full of fancy cars, but a brand new Bentley still turns heads. One evening last month, the owner of this very impressive car stopped by upscale Fleming's Steak House in Fashion Island for dinner and a cocktail. The valet parked the car right out front so everyone would know that Bentley owners eat at Fleming's. Imagine his chagrin when a patron keyed the passenger side of the $200,000. vehicle, causing $23,000. in damage. Worse yet, as the offending patron and a female companion drove away, the valet recognized him as a regular customer. The Newport Beach Police Department is nearby and arriving officers took a report and description from the valet. Sounds pretty straightforward, right? Guess again. The Bentley is owned by high profile attorney Joe Cavallo, who at that time was in the midst of the Gregory Haidl rape trial. The suspect is Ron Cedillos, a friend of DA Tony Rackauckas, who was driving a car registered to the Orange County Sheriff's Department. And his female companion was TV personality Christina Macaulay, the sister of Rackauckas' spokesperson Mark Macaulay. Here's the inside story:
"I KNOW YOUR CAR!"
According to a TB subscriber who was there, Joe Cavallo and his law partner Pete Scalisi went to Fleming's to have a cocktail and dinner. While standing at the bar, Cavallo saw Christina Macaulay, who had previously worked for him as a consultant. Their parting was not too friendly, but Cavallo said hello anyway and hoped they could let bygones be bygones. Instantly, Ron Cedillos, who Cavallo had never met, moved in and said "Get away from my girl!". The two exchanged escalating profanities and as the bouncer stepped in to separate them, Cedillos shouted "I know your car!". Cedillos and Macaulay left and as things returned to normal, the visibly upset restaurant manager approached Cavallo and asked him to step outside. At first the two attorneys thought they were being asked to leave, but that wasn't it. "It's about your car.", the manager said to Cavallo. "You need to come outside." The valet met them at the Bentley and confirmed that he'd seen Ron Cedillos, a regular customer, standing near Cavallo's car even though his Mercedes was parked in a different area. Then he showed them long deep gashes cut into the passenger side of the Bentley.
WHAT TO DO? WHAT TO DO?
Why is Ron Cedillos' car registered to the address of the Orange County Sheriff's Department? Ron Cedillos was described by Sheriff Carona as his friend forever, but now they don't speak. TB has learned that their friendship ended abruptly after a conversation Cedillos reportedly had with Newport Beach attorney Debra Hoffman, one of Sheriff Carona's closest advisors. Christina Macaulay knows what happened, but she he has refused to speak with the police. She is reportedly being represented by a lawyer retained for her by the suspect, Ron Cedillos. Fortunately, the valet at Fleming's provided enough information for a felony filing, which Detective Monarch is reportedly going to submit to a Harbor Court DA tomorrow. But what will Tony Rackauckas do? Did he know that his spokesperson's sister was working for Greg Haidl's attorney? Will Christina Macaulay be ordered to testify? Will Sheriff Carona become involved? Will Rackauckas instruct his filing deputies not to accept this case due to a "lack of evidence"? We'll soon find out.
Time is of the essence in criminal matters, yet almost a month has gone by and no charges have been filed. The usually quiet Harbor Courthouse will be buzzing with activity tomorrow as the politically charged case of People vs. former Assistant Sheriff George Jaramillo and his sister-in-law, Erica Hill, goes before a new judge. A preliminary hearing is scheduled to begin, but last Friday, Judge Dan McNerney, a former DA, surprised just about everyone when he announced a conflict of interest and recused himself on his own motion. The case was then referred to Supervising Judge John Conley, also a former DA, who is highly regarded for following the law, not politics. Last week, OC Weekly reporter R. Scott Moxley ran an excellent story in which he detailed many of the problems facing the DA's office in the Jaramillo case (
Orange County Weekly - Who Shot the Sheriff? ). This promises to be a week filled with disclosures, so for the inside story stay tuned to
The shocking truth about corruption in law enforcement