Prosecution won’t call Jaramillo

On the witness stand, George Jaramillo has been described as everything from a pickpocket to Satan, a one-time cop with a law degree who appeared thoroughly corrupted by sex, money and power.

The former assistant sheriff of Orange County also was expected to be a star government witness at the trial of his former boss Michael S. Carona, who was the county’s three-term sheriff until his indictment last year.

But federal prosecutors Tuesday ended widespread anticipation about whether he would actually take the stand by confirming that they will wrap up their criminal corruption case against Carona this week without calling Jaramillo as a witness.

Assistant U.S. Atty. Brett Sagel and Senior Assistant U.S. Atty. Kenneth Julian, who have called dozens of witnesses since the trial opened seven weeks ago, did not reveal any reason for their decision.

Interpretation from courtroom observers is varied: The government is so confidant in its case that it is simply unnecessary to call Jaramillo to the stand; Jaramillo is such a risky witness that Carona’s attorneys could have a field day during cross-examination, undercutting his worth to the government.

Carona, who faces a possible prison term if convicted, is accused of misusing the powers of his office in a furious pursuit of cash and gifts worth more than $700,000, enriching himself and others, including his wife, Deborah, and a former mistress, Debra Hoffman. Carona’s wife and Hoffman are also charged in the case and will stand trial at a later date, and may be tried together.

Jaramillo, a former Garden Grove police sergeant, was appointed as an assistant sheriff after running Carona’s first campaign in 1998. He and the sheriff were tight allies and it was presumed that Jaramillo would be Carona’s successor. Carona once called Jaramillo his “brother.”

But in 2004, Carona fired him as allegations of corruption began swirling around the sheriff’s administration. Jaramillo has since served a year in jail for misusing a county helicopter and perjury in an unrelated case.

To date, jurors have heard from 30 witnesses, including Jaramillo’s wife, who worked as a campaign fundraiser for Carona. But the government has built its case chiefly around Carona’s relationship with another former assistant sheriff, millionaire Don Haidl.

Haidl was on the stand for two weeks, telling jurors that he bought full access to the resources of the Sheriff’s Department and got a so-called “Get Out of Jail Free” card by illegally funneling at least $30,000 into Carona’s first campaign, letting him use his yacht and planes, paying for vacations and bribing him with tens of thousands of dollars. Jurors have heard hours of secretly recorded conversations with Carona that Haidl agreed to tape after pleading guilty to tax charges. Haidl has yet to be sentenced in the tax case.

Through cross-examination of Haidl and others, defense lawyers Brian A. Sun and Jeffrey Rawitz have tried to show that Carona was the victim of vengeful former associates such as Haidl and Jaramillo, who they say were driven by greed and power and are now trying to win leniency in their own criminal cases.

John Hueston, a former federal prosecutor who is now a white-collar defense specialist, said that by not calling Jaramillo, the prosecution deprives Carona’s attorneys an opportunity to establish important points of impeachment, as well as a chance to reinforce the themes they tried to elicit during cross-examination. Hueston is with the law firm of Irell & Manella.

If the defense tries to call Jaramillo to the stand and he declines, citing 5th Amendment privilege, the defense would then likely ask the government to provide immunity for Jaramillo, Hueston said.

Assuming the government declines and the court does not intervene, Hueston said, the defense will be deprived of a witness and will argue strenuously in closing that the government hid its most central witness.

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christine.hanley@latimes.com