Release of Jaramillo Info Riles O.C. Judge

In a tentative ruling Thursday, a judge found that his order to bar the release of inflammatory information in a corruption case against former Orange County Assistant Sheriff George Jaramillo and his sister-in-law had been violated.

The information that was leaked to at least one television station and a newspaper pertained to an alleged sexual relationship between Jaramillo and Erica Hill -- information that Superior Court Judge John D. Conley had blacked out in search warrant affidavits he unsealed Wednesday.

“I am upset by it,” said Conley, who set a hearing on the matter for Monday. Conley redacted five sentences in the affidavits after defense attorney Jeffrey Friedman argued they contained unrelated information that amounted to “gratuitous mudslinging” by prosecutors in an attempt to “dirty up” the defendants and generate a negative perception of them.

The Orange County Register, citing notes from a district attorney investigator, reported in a story Thursday that Sheriff Michael S. Carona “saw Jaramillo and Hill kiss and engage in sexual activity.”

Jaramillo’s attorney, Joseph G. Cavallo, pointed the finger at Susan Schroeder, a spokeswoman for the district attorney’s office. He argued that she should not be allowed access to any paperwork or prosecutors involved in the case.

Attorney Joseph Smith, who represents Hill, asked the judge to bar the district attorney’s office from handling the case if other alternatives would not prove effective.

Schroeder, speaking after the proceedings, said Jaramillo’s lawyers had a history of making false accusations about the district attorney’s office and blamed a defense team member.

“It is disappointing as officers of the court that they would be a party to such misrepresentations,” she said.

Senior Deputy Dist. Atty. Brian Gurwitz told the judge that the information about the sexual relationship was “not a secret” and that it was not surprising that reporters found out.

Jaramillo and Hill are accused of misusing county resources to stage demonstrations for CHG Safety Technologies, a Newport Beach company that was marketing a computer chip designed to stop cars fleeing police. They have pleaded not guilty and remain free on $25,000 bond.

The owner of CHG, Charles H. Gabbard, has been on the witness stand all week for a special hearing in which he is allowed to testify because of fears that he might die before a trial can be held. Gabbard, who turned 69 on Thursday, suffers from emphysema and has been hooked to a breathing tube in court.