Other than CCW's going down the tubes, has anything else changed

[Gladiator]

News: The man behind the sheriff | carona, cedillos, hutchens, sheriff, never - OCRegister.com

The man behind the sheriff (6/18/08)
FRANK MICKADEIT
FRANK MICKADEIT
Register columnist
fmickadeit@ocregister.com
Comments 2 | Recommend 4

When a Register photographer shot Sandra Hutchens moments after her appointment as sheriff last Tuesday, he also captured a swarthy middle-aged man sitting behind her patting her shoulder, his left wrist flashing a Rolex and a perfect French cuff.

Within hours of the photo being put on the Register's Web site, a longtime county political watcher had identified him as Laguna Niguel entrepreneur Ron Cedillos – a man who once helped elect Mike Carona.

I've reported on the role of former L.A. Sheriff's executives and the California Women's Leadership Association in helping get the Board of Supervisors to pay serious attention to Hutchens' candidacy. But Cedillos was just as instrumental. I couldn't report his part because everything he told me about it was off the record. Until now.

I've known Cedillos about three years. We have a mutual interest in politics, cigars and scotch. He is a moderate Republican with ties to the Pete Wilson and George H. W. Bush administrations. He was a California State University trustee. His business interests have varied over the years – mainly real estate and prison construction.

So he's an interesting guy with connections. Yet until today his name has never appeared in my column – his choice. It is only now because he wants to set the record straight on his involvement with Hutchens and not taint her with his former connection to Carona.

Cedillos has never been connected to any of Carona's alleged wrongdoing, yet he feels guilty about his role in helping get him elected in 1998. Which is precisely why he says he wanted to help Hutchens get her appointment.

On the night Hutchens was picked, I was at Cedillos's hilltop home with some of the aforementioned L.A. Sheriff's command staff and CWLA leadership, Pat and John Bates, and a few others. Although she'd been invited, Hutchens didn't attend, which I saw as a good thing. About 9 p.m., we were under the lanai and Cedillos raised his glass of Lagavulin and said: "The county and I are even."

So this is about how Cedillos helped Carona, broke with Carona, laid low for almost a decade, and then decided to help Hutchens.

Cedillos clearly remembers the night he met Carona. It was probably late 1997 and Cedillos was hosting a fundraising dinner for a congressional candidate at Morton's. After it was over, he and another guy were standing outside the restaurant after it was over wishing, as he puts it, they'd "had more steak and fewer martinis."

Up walks a short, bald guy who'd been at the dinner but who had been largely ignored. "Know anybody who needs a ride home?" then county Marshal Mike Carona asked. He drove Cedillos 20 miles home and they ended up talking until 5 a.m., as Carona unveiled his plan to run for sheriff against the powerful incumbent, Brad Gates. Carona had no campaign set up and no real idea how to run one.

Cedillos, like a lot of O.C. leaders at that point, thought Gates had become too powerful. He decided to help out Carona by tapping his network of business and political contacts, including some Wilson talent like Marty Wilson. Cedillos got involved in campaign strategy sessions and raising money. Cedillos met George Jaramillo and Don Haidl.

At one point, Cedillos thought he might be on near-equal footing with those two in Carona's mind, but as soon as Carona took office, Cedillos says, the tenor changed. He told Carona he was worried about the direction his was taking.

He said he was critical of two of Carona's early decisions: to make Haidl an assistant sheriff and a (later aborted) plan to affix Carona's name to patrol cars. The big blowout with Carona occurred at a party in Newport Beach that devolved into a shouting match between the two men. That night, Cedillos said, they argued over whether Carona was being loyal to low-ranking deputies who had supported him.

Cedillos did go through the now-controversial Sheriff's reserves program and got a badge and a concealed-weapon permit, but by the time that happened the fracture was complete. He never participated in the reserves, he says, and he doesn't think Carona was even aware he had a badge until years later, when the whole program ran into legal and political trouble.

After 1998 or 1999, he and Carona never spoke again except in passing, he says. Stung then, he's thankful now because of the alleged criminal misconduct that resulted in Carona, Jaramillo and Haidl all being indicted. "I realize now that I had no idea what was really going on."

Hutchens, Cedillos and ex-Sheriff Lou Blanas - Orange Punch - OCRegister.com



About this blog
Orange Punch is a blog of political opinion from a libertarian perspective by Orange County Register editorial writers. The main bloggers are editorial writers Steven Greenhut, mostly but not exclusively on public policy issues in Orange County, and Mark Landsbaum, mostly on California issues. Occasionally, editorial writer Alan W. Bock will also weigh in.

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Hutchens, Cedillos and ex-Sheriff Lou Blanas
June 18th, 2008, 3:25 pm · 14 Comments · posted by Steven Greenhut

Newly appointed Sheriff Sandra Hutchens got some attention for her support from former-Mike-Carona-supporter Ronald Cedillos, as Frank Mickadeit explains here. Frank argues that Cedillos wants to make amends for the Carona disaster. Can’t blame him. Everyone who supported Carona ought to make amends. (Funny thought: Mike Schroeder, aka the OC GOP’s Darth Vader, making amends for anything!)

By the way, Cedillos is managing partner of a development firm that “specializes in the siting, entitlement, design and construction of state-of-the-art community based correctional facilities (CBCF) for both government agencies and private operators.” One of his project partners is Lou Blanas, the former Sacramento County sheriff who got in hot water for his concealed-carry policies. Hutchens already has announced new policies in that regard.

After Blanas’ retirement announcement in 2006, the Sacramento Bee wrote: “On his watch, the litany of near disasters in the sheriff’s department grew day by day — a rash of jail suicides, a costly lawsuit over strip searches, dysfunction in the jail’s health care system, dangerous staffing shortages both on patrol and in the jails, charges of deputy brutality, ethnic profiling in traffic stops, a rebellion among cities which broke contracts with the sheriff because of soaring costs. There are more, but that list will do for purposes of illustration.”

Cedillos’ jail-development firm, Sierra Partners, describes Blanas as “one of the most respected law enforcement leaders in the country.” That may be true, but Blanas wasn’t too well respected by the Bee.

Another partner, William Stonich, retired as an undersecretary for LA County Sheriff Lee Baca.

We’ll see what influence Cedillos, Blanas and others have on the new sheriff.

[Gladiator]

The shocking truth about corruption in law enforcement

: O.C. reserve deputy can't sue for libel, court says :
2007-06-28

O.C. reserve deputy can't sue for libel, court says

From the Associated Press
2:49 PM PDT, June 27, 2007



An appeals court has ruled that a Republican activist can't sue a website for libel for publishing a story about how he vandalized a political rival's $200,000 Bentley. In April 2005, Ronald Cedillos allegedly got into a shouting match at a Newport Beach restaurant with attorney Joe Cavallo. Later, Cedillos allegedly used a key to scratch the Bentley's paint job. Cedillos, who is an Orange County reserve sheriff's deputy, was never charged with vandalism, but he eventually paid Cavallo $23,000 to repair the damage. The website The shocking truth about corruption in law enforcement , owned by private investigator Michael Madigan, reported the incident, (The shocking truth about corruption in law enforcement) and Cedillos sued for defamation. The website said it "examines a system which allows bad cops to twist the badge and punishes good cops for reporting them."

But the 4th District Court of Appeal said in a June 22 opinion that Cedillos cannot sue for libel because he's a reserve deputy and must meet stricter rules for public officials who want to bring defamation suits. Although Cedillos became a reserve deputy only because he was a political contributor to Sheriff Mike Carona, the appellate panel ruled the honorary status makes him a public official and worthy of media scrutiny.

"The potential for abuse of police officer power and public social harm by such untrained individuals is actually greater than any writer of traffic tickets," Justice David G. Sills wrote.



END - Additional media coverage regarding this case will be available at The shocking truth about corruption in law enforcement The 4th DCA's unanimous opinion is included below. Thanks for staying tuned to The shocking truth about corruption in law enforcement.



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RONALD CEDILLOS,

Plaintiff and Appellant,

v.

MICHAEL MADIGAN et al.,

Defendants and Respondents.






G036941

(Super. Ct. No. 05CC07333)

O P I N I O N

[Gladiator]

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

[Al Dubltap]

Originally Posted by Gladiator

News: The man behind the sheriff | carona, cedillos, hutchens, sheriff, never - OCRegister.com

On the night Hutchens was picked, I was at Cedillos's hilltop home with some of the aforementioned L.A. Sheriff's command staff and CWLA leadership, Pat and John Bates, and a few others. Although she'd been invited, Hutchens didn't attend, which I saw as a good thing. About 9 p.m., we were under the lanai and Cedillos raised his glass of Lagavulin and said: "The county and I are even."

Well I'll be GD'd!

[FiringLion]

Curiouser and curiouser...

[BonoVox]

Originally Posted by Gladiator
News: The man behind the sheriff | carona, cedillos, hutchens, sheriff, never - OCRegister.com

On the night Hutchens was picked, I was at Cedillos's hilltop home with some of the aforementioned L.A. Sheriff's command staff and CWLA leadership, Pat and John Bates, and a few others. Although she'd been invited, Hutchens didn't attend, which I saw as a good thing. About 9 p.m., we were under the lanai and Cedillos raised his glass of Lagavulin and said: "The county and I are even."

Speechless!!!!

Guess we are now finding out why the Acting Sheriff who was doing phenomenal job was not picked permanently for the position. I am literally sick to my stomach after reading this!!!!

[Bombard]

This stinks.

A guy who does business with Sheriffs, who's partnered with a disgraced and corrupt former Sheriff, was the primary force behind our new Sheriff?

This is Chicago politics at it's finest.

[swdr]

It is interesting to see the political relationships involved.

[PHM]

I think Huthchens should resign and the county should have a special election for the position.

[Gr8OCGuy]

Just when I think I've heard it all, I hear more.... geez... Good ole Pat, representing us South OC'rs in high style.....mmmhhh....

[RomanDad]

Originally Posted by Al Dubltap

Well I'll be GD'd!

[RomanDad]

Originally Posted by Bombard

This stinks.

A guy who does business with Sheriffs, who's partnered with a disgraced and corrupt former Sheriff, was the primary force behind our new Sheriff?

This is Chicago politics at it's finest.

At least Daly had the good taste to cover the tracks....

[AMS MIKE]

Originally Posted by BonoVox

Speechless!!!!

Guess we are now finding out why the Acting Sheriff who was doing phenomenal job was not picked permanently for the position. I am literally sick to my stomach after reading this!!!!

+1

[Spicy McHaggis]

Originally Posted by BonoVox

Speechless!!!!

Guess we are now finding out why the Acting Sheriff who was doing phenomenal job was not picked permanently for the position. I am literally sick to my stomach after reading this!!!!

I don't find it surprising that Cedillos, Blanas, and another very high ranking LASD retiree are close to this selection. No links to former Sheriff Carona indeed.

[THE Gimper]

Originally Posted by Al Dubltap

Well I'll be GD'd!

That caught my attention too.