Data for Inquiry Into Ex-Lawman Didn’t Surface

The Orange County Sheriff’s Department failed to turn over important records to a district attorney’s investigator looking into corruption allegations against former Assistant Sheriff George Jaramillo, according to search warrant affidavits unsealed Wednesday.

The Sheriff’s Department was asked for all records related to product demonstrations that prosecutors say the department staged on behalf of CHG Safety Technologies, a company marketing a high-tech device to stop fleeing vehicles.

But the affidavits state that documents related to two of the demonstrations -- seven are listed -- were not released until months after they were requested, and then only after the district attorney’s office learned about them from other sources.

The affidavits were released midway through a hearing in which the owner of the company, Charles H. Gabbard, is being allowed to testify early because he may die before a trial can be held. Gabbard has advanced emphysema and has been tethered to an oxygen tank during court appearances this week.

Gabbard’s testimony is expected to be used as key evidence in the corruption case against Jaramillo and his sister-in-law, Erica Hill. They are accused of misusing department resources for financial gain by staging the demonstrations that promoted Gabbard’s invention.

Jaramillo and Hill have pleaded not guilty. Both are free on $25,000 bail.

The affidavits were filed before raids were conducted on the homes of Jaramillo and Hill. They offer a glimpse into how well Gabbard -- a convicted felon who has served at least two prison terms -- was able to penetrate the top ranks of the Sheriff’s Department, and raises more questions about how much Sheriff Michael S. Carona knew about the demonstrations and the alleged relationship between the company and Jaramillo.

Carona, who fired Jaramillo last year for unstated reasons, has tried to distance himself from the scandal, saying he was unaware of any consulting agreement between CHG and his former chief confidant until he read an OC Weekly article describing the deal.

The sheriff has also said he has had no relationship with the company or its owner since Gabbard held a campaign fundraiser in May 2000 for the sheriff’s birthday at a waterfront restaurant in Newport Beach.

According to the affidavits unsealed Wednesday, Carona acknowledged that he wrote a letter in support of CHG when the state Legislature considered requiring that the company’s device be installed in every patrol car in the state.

But when asked about such a letter -- addressed to the Legislature on March 22, 2000, on department stationery a week after the first product demonstration -- Carona told investigators his signature had been forged.

At least one sheriff’s official, a lieutenant who was asked by district attorney’s investigator Dina Mauger to turn over information about the demonstrations, failed to report two of the events that took place in 2001, including one that was videotaped and aired on the Discovery Channel.

Mauger said it was only after she reviewed interviews, documents and footage provided by others that she found out about those unreported demonstrations, and obtained the records she needed after going back to the department months later. That lieutenant has since been promoted to captain.