Orange County District Attorney Todd Spitzer is battling for a second four-year term against three challengers who are united in one proposition: the office can’t go on as it is.

The campaigning leading up to the June 7 primary election has been so focused on drama, scandals and doomsday predictions that little has been said about the accomplishments and platforms of Spitzer and his opponents.

Spitzer’s political career has taken him from Brea Olinda school board to the county Board of Supervisors to the state Assembly and now Orange County’s top law enforcement post. Among the changes he says he has brought to the office is the end of the “win-at-all-costs” mentality forged under former District Attorney Tony Rackauckas.

He downplays the scandals over sexual harassment suits against one of his former administrators and his use of racially charged language in public and during an internal meeting, which critics say endangered cases and cost him several endorsements from top prosecutors throughout California.

Spitzer’s closest opponent, former prosecutor Pete Hardin, calls himself a “servant leader,” committed to integrity, accountability and transparency. To that end, Hardin, a former U.S. Marine Corps judge advocate, said he will establish a system to ensure prosecutors turn over to defense attorneys evidence favorable to the defendants. He says former district attorney Rackuackas and Spitzer have failed to do so.

Hardin also downplays his own scandals — that he was forced out of the Marines for breaking the corps’ adultery standard, that he was counseled for “womanizing” while working for a short time at the Orange County District Attorney’s Office and that his progressive leanings run counter to a large conservative voting bloc in Orange County.

Candidate Bryan Chehock, an attorney for the U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency with 23 years as a federal lawyer, is running a mostly low-key campaign devoid of any political baggage. Chehock said one of his major initiatives would be to treat the Public Defender’s Office and defense attorneys not as the enemy, but as an integral part of the justice system — as important as law enforcement and judges.

Another candidate, Michael Jacobs, is a retired Orange County prosecutor with 30 years of experience, 13 of them on the homicide team. With 141 trials under his belt, Jacobs touts himself as the only candidate with the front-line, local experience needed to lead this group of 300 lawyers.

Jacobs was fired from the District Attorney’s Office in 2001 after reporting Rackauckas to state prosecutors for allegedly shutting down investigations into cronies. Jacobs won back his job in 2003 with full back pay and retired three years later.

All four candidates were invited to respond to an Orange County Register questionnaire on key issues in the campaign. Only Jacobs did not respond to the request.

On the current state of the DA’s Office

Spitzer said he rejects the notion that his agency is still troubled, insisting he has “cleaned up the messes” left by Rackauckas.

Those “messes” include the improper use of jailhouse informants to secure confessions in major criminal cases — violating the defendants’ constitutional right to have an attorney present. That practice prompted a judge to block the District Attorney’s Office from handling the prosecution of the worst mass killer in Orange County history. Furthermore, the judge took the death penalty off the table in sentencing confessed shooter Scott Dekraai to multiple terms of life in prison for killing eight people at a beauty salon in Seal Beach in 2011.

“I’ve implemented major reforms to ensure integrity in prosecutions, fired unethical prosecutors, held bad cops accountable, investigated evidence booking issues, closed the door on my predecessor’s snitch scandal once and for all, and overturned ill-gotten convictions as a result,” Spitzer said.

Spitzer added that he created a hate crimes unit that has filed more cases in the first two years of his administration than in the past 25 years under previous administrations.

He said: “I have also rejected failed social experiments like what has been done in Los Angeles. Instead, we have implemented common sense reforms to the criminal justice system that do not destroy public safety, including increased job training, mental health and addiction treatment, and the creation of conviction integrity and recidivism reduction units.”

Hardin accused Spitzer of creating exponentially more scandals and lawsuits than Rackauckas did in 20 years.

“For the sake of justice, equity, and fiscal responsibility, we must end this circus,” Hardin said.

To get the office back on track, Hardin said he would “work with my team to implement an open-discovery system which will require automatic disclosure of all nonprivileged information in the prosecution team’s … file.”

He said he also would bolster transparency and accountability in the office and would work with his team and the Office of Independent Review watchdog agency to create a reporting system by which employees can safely and, if desired, anonymously report workplace grievances.

Chehock said the killer of constructive change is the phrase, “That’s the way we’ve always done it.” He said he would look to offer more opportunities to work remotely. And he would keep personnel issues confidential.

“On my first day, I will let everyone know that I will never litigate internal employee discipline in the media,” Chehock said. “Although my office will place a premium on transparency, the media is not the appropriate venue to litigate/justify employment decisions.”

He said he would require that his staff respect all components of the justice system.

“I believe that the justice system in this country is a four-legged stool — prosecutors, law enforcement, public defenders/defense bar, and judges,” Chehock said. “What is abundantly clear is that the entire justice system suffers when the public confidence is diminished in any individual leg.”

On the death penalty

Spitzer said he supports the death penalty for the worst of the worst offenders.

“There are people who commit such horrific acts of violence they cannot live in our society and we cannot risk having unilateral changes by the state Legislature or the governor to allow these monsters to once again be free,” Spitzer said.

Hardin said the moratorium on capital punishment placed by Gov. Gavin Newsom will not likely be lifted.

“Few things garner media attention like tough — but ultimately empty — talk about seeking the ‘ultimate justice’ following a horrific crime,” he said. “That’s because prosecutors who seek the death penalty do so knowing full well it’s a sentence that will never be carried out.”

Chehock agreed that, in California, the death penalty is largely symbolic.

“Although I personally believe there are individuals deserving of the death penalty, the symbolic nature of the penalty … would caution against imposition of the penalty without complete support from direct family members of the victims,” he said. “Given the years of death penalty appeals, there is little point to seeking such a symbolic sentence without such universal support.”

On charging juveniles as adults

Spitzer says charging juveniles in adult court is an option that should be retained, but used judiciously.

“When a 17-and-a-half-year-old commits a violent robbery, rape, or murder, prosecutors should absolutely have the discretion to charge them as an adult,” he said. “While it may not be appropriate in all circumstances, a ban on prosecuting juveniles as adults is a dangerous and irrational policy.”

Hardin said he opposes prosecuting juveniles as adults for moral and public safety reasons, except in extreme circumstances and only where public safety demands it.

“Modern science demonstrates what parents have always known, that the human brain doesn’t fully develop cognitively until about 25 years of age and that children have an incredible ability to learn and adapt,” he said. “It should surprise no one that kids who are imprisoned with adults are often abused. When they get out, they lash out.”

Chehock acknowledged the research on the brain growth of juveniles. “Even so, I believe most juveniles are capable of understanding right from wrong,” he said. “While the presumption is definitely that a juvenile should be tried as a juvenile, some violent crimes merit a different approach.”

On mass incarceration

Spitzer said dangerous individuals need to be behind bars, but acknowledged that incarceration has been improperly used to deal with the mentally ill and substance abusers.

To that end, Spitzer said he launched a pilot program, First Point, aimed at reducing recidivism by connecting low-level offenders with mental health and substance abuse services before criminal charges are filed.

“The difference between programs like this and what George Gascon is doing in Los Angeles is that we are connecting people with services, and there are obligations that must be fulfilled to reduce charges,” Spitzer said.

Hardin noted that Americans constitute 5% of the world’s total population, yet this country houses 25% of the world’s incarcerated.

“If mass incarceration was the key to public safety, America would be the safest country in the world. Clearly, we are not,” Hardin said.

“To address mass incarceration I will make sure enhancements are only charged when necessary to advance public safety, and that kids are kept in the juvenile system barring exceptional circumstances,” he said. “I will make sure we eliminate arbitrary barriers to diversion programs proven to break the cycle of crime.”

Chehock said the reduction of California’s prison population, already lowered by court order and COVID-19, should be a universally shared goal.

“We must continue efforts to employ smarter criminal justice practices. For example, nonserious, nonviolent/sexual crimes need to continue to be diverted to county jail, probation, or diversion programs,” Chehock said.

On the district attorney’s DNA database

Spitzer, after initially opposing one of the nation’s only DNA collection systems managed by prosecutors, now heralds it as an effective crime-fighting tool “that is used to catch rapists and murderers and keep Orange County safe. Defendants who provide their DNA have a 43 percent reduction in recidivism.”

Hardin said he would terminate the DNA collection program and turn over the existing database to the California Attorney General’s Office.

“Coercing people accused of petty offenses — like walking their dog without a leash — into giving up their personal DNA to an unregulated local database is unethical and potentially unconstitutional,” he said. “The OCDA’s vast, secretive DNA collection program, known as “Spit and Acquit,” is the only known DNA database in America run by local prosecutors. The program is hardly voluntary, presenting a false choice to people being threatened with serious prosecution for minor infractions.”

Chehock said the district attorney’s DNA program should not continue to exist as currently structured.

“The near universal requirement to submit DNA, when combined with the requirement that the defendant waive the right to challenge the legality of the DNA collection, creates a perception of coercion,” he said. “There is no state law specifically authorizing such a program and the rules for collection, use, and retention are left solely to the discretion of the district attorney.”

Chehock also noted the district attorney’s DNA operation does not use a state-qualified lab and its samples do not meet the basic requirement to be included in the FBI’s national database.

On new initiatives

Spitzer and his counterparts in San Bernardino and Riverside counties are among the first to file murder charges against dealers who sell fentanyl-laced drugs resulting in death. He also initiated an aggressive hate crimes unit and recently announced a program focused on street racing.

Hardin said he would establish a new intelligence-driven crime data analysis unit to tie repeat offenders to more crimes.

“Five percent of offenders commit 50% of crime, but all too often these offenders are arrested and prosecuted for single criminal acts,” he said. “By leveraging law enforcement tools at our disposal to develop and analyze intelligence, we can connect those offenders to multiple crimes.”

Hardin added he would work with his team “to create a list of low-level misdemeanors that prosecutors would either decline to prosecute or automatically refer to diversion programs for first-time offenders.”

Chehock said he would create a local “overdose response team,” partnering with the U.S. Attorney’s Office and DEA to investigate fentanyl deaths and decide how to respond. He also said he would seek an agreement with every law enforcement agency in the county allowing the D.A.’s Office to conduct an investigation whenever their members are involved in a shooting.

“No department should be able to investigate its own personnel in these cases and I would seek to establish clear and transparent guidelines related to investigative responsibilities,” Chehock said.

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