Accused Ex-O.C. Official Asks for Judge’s Recusal

Former Assistant Sheriff George Jaramillo asked a judge Thursday to recuse himself from the former lawman’s corruption case because of the judge’s marriage to a senior prosecutor in the Orange County district attorney’s office.

Jaramillo argued that the relationship between Superior Court Judge William R. Froeberg and Assistant Dist. Atty. Roseanne Froeberg could create a perception of unfairness. Roseanne Froeberg heads the district attorney’s sex crimes unit.

Jaramillo also said that he posed a political threat to Dist. Atty. Tony Rackauckas and Sheriff Michael S. Carona, and that evidence at trial would show that they were interested in seeing him convicted.

“Questions about impartiality will naturally occur in the minds of members of the public when they learn that the judge assigned to hear this case -- a case with such obvious political ramifications -- is married to a member of the district attorney’s upper management team,” Jaramillo’s attorney Joseph G. Cavallo wrote in the brief filed with the court.

Jaramillo was indicted last week by the Orange County Grand Jury on bribery and obstruction-of-justice charges. He is accused of using his position as a ranking lawman to help a Newport Beach businessman demonstrate an invention.

Jaramillo, who was fired more than a year ago and has sued to get his job back, pleaded not guilty to the new charges.