Tony rackauckas district attorney biography
Tony Rackauckas
American attorney and politician
Anthony Joseph Rackauckas Jr. (born March 18, ) is a former District Attorney of Orange County, California, and a former Superior Court judge.
After losing his reelection bid for a sixth term as Orange County DA in , Rackauckas has come under fire for allegedly fabricating evidence related to a rape and kidnapping case.
Early life
He was born in the family of Mexican-American Maria Socorro Limón and Anthony Joseph Rackauckas, whose family had arrived from Lithuania. Rackauckas served in the United States Army as a paratrooper in the st Airborne Division from to After completing his service in the army, he attended California State University, Long Beach from – while simultaneously serving in the United States Army Reserve.[1]
After earning his Bachelor of Arts degree in Political Science from CSULB in , Rackauckas attended Loyola Law School while simultaneously serving as a social worker in the Los Angeles County Department of Public Social Services.
He graduated from Loyola in , earning his Juris Doctor degree.[1]
Career
In , Rackauckas left the Los Angeles County Department of Public Social Services to become a Deputy District Attorney in the Orange County District Attorney's Office, where he served until leaving in to enter private practice.
While in private practice, Rackauckas authored Proposition , which appeared on the June ballot.[citation needed]
Rackauckas left private practice in when he was appointed by California GovernorGeorge Deukmejian to be a municipal court judge.
Rackauckas served as a municipal court judge until March , when Governor Pete Wilson appointed him a Superior Court judge, a post in which he served until becoming District Attorney[2] of Orange County.
Rackauckas won the support of 59% of Orange County voters in the June election[3] for District Attorney against Deputy District Attorney Wally Wade and took office in January He then won the support of 62% of the voters in a March rematch with Wade.[4] He was unopposed in his June [5] and [6] bids for a third and fourth consecutive term, winning % of the vote in each year.
In February , Rackauckas filed documents required to seek a fifth term in office. He raised $, during a fundraiser at the Balboa Bay Resort in Newport Beach for his re-election campaign.[7] He won re-election in with support from % of the voters.[8][9]
Rackauckas has been criticized by Public Defender Scott Sanders for his office's purported mishandling of jailhouse informants which has created difficulties in convicting and sentencing defendants due to the violations of defendants' constitutional rights.
Tony rackauckas district attorney biography Rackauckas left private practice in when he was appointed by California Governor George Deukmejian to be a municipal court judge. After the electoral defeat, Rackauckas admitted during a deposition that he had used a high profile sexual assault case to increase his chances of winning the election. Share via Close extra sharing options. Rackauckas has been criticized by Public Defender Scott Sanders for his office's purported mishandling of jailhouse informants which has created difficulties in convicting and sentencing defendants due to the violations of defendants' constitutional rights.This resulted in the "taking off the table" of the death penalty for Scott Dekraai, who had pleaded guilty to murdering eight people and wounding another in the Seal Beach massacre.[10][11][12][13][14] Dekraai was sentenced on September 22, by Goethals to eight terms of life in prison without the possibility of parole, one term for each of his victims and to seven years to life for attempted murder.[15][16]
Rackauckas ran for a sixth term in [17] On November 6, , Rackauckas was defeated by Orange County Supervisor Todd Spitzer in a runoff.[citation needed]
After the electoral defeat, Rackauckas admitted during a deposition that he had used a high profile sexual assault case to increase his chances of winning the election.
His successor to the office of District Attorney, Todd Spitzer, stated that Rackauckas had invented evidence against the defendants in the sex case. The charges against the defendants were dropped.[18]
In January , Rackauckas opened a law office in Tustin, focusing on transactional law and civil litigation.
Electoral history
Orange County, California District Attorney
References
- ^ ab"Orange County DA - District Attorney Tony Rackauckas". . Retrieved 16 November
- ^"State Bar of CA: Anthony Joseph Rackauckas Jr".
. Retrieved
- ^Undecideds Key in Tight Race for D.A., Los Angeles Times, February 25, , "Wade, who received 41% of the vote in a loss to Rackauckas"
- ^"Orange County Primary Election". March 5, Archived from the original on August 23, Retrieved : CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
- ^"Primary Election".
Archived from the original on Retrieved
- ^"Statewide Direct Primary Election".Tony rackauckas district attorney biography husband Di Carlo also said he falsely described himself in that same deposition as a member of the USC football team and a USC tight end and fullbacks coach in the s. California New fire breaks out along Freeway in Sepulveda Pass. Tony Rackauckas was an Orange County judge known as an independent thinker who believed in giving people who deserved it second chances. The New York Times.
Archived from the original on Retrieved
- ^"D.A. Tony Rackauckas Files to Run Again". . Retrieved
- ^"How O.C. voted: Election results from the county Registrar of Voters". . 5 June Retrieved
- ^"Orange County District Attorney". . Retrieved
- ^"'Failure of leadership' at the Orange County D.A.'s office led to informant issues, report says".
Los Angeles Times.
Tony rackauckas district attorney biography death: The so-called snitch scandal resulted in reduced or thrown-out charges in several other criminal cases and the retrial of several convicted killers. Rackauckas left private practice in when he was appointed by California Governor George Deukmejian to be a municipal court judge. Rackauckas won his first term as district attorney in and has since served five terms. Career Add photo.
Retrieved
- ^"After scathing report by panel he selected, O.C. D.A. Tony Rackauckas says he's staying put". . 5 January Retrieved
- ^"Inside the Snitch Tank". .Tony rackauckas district attorney biography wikipedia Back to Profile. After the electoral defeat, Rackauckas admitted during a deposition that he had used a high profile sexual assault case to increase his chances of winning the election. Court records show he had been a defendant in two Orange County lawsuits during that time. Live Stream.
12 May Retrieved
- ^"OC Snitch Scandal". OC Weekly. Archived from the original on Retrieved
- ^"Deputies take the Fifth, complicating yet another jail snitch case". . 5 January Retrieved
- ^"Scott Dekraai, Orange County's worst mass killer, gets life without parole for eight Seal Beach murders".
. 23 September Retrieved 16 November
- ^"Judge rules out death penalty for Scott Dekraai in Seal Beach mass murder case". .
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18 August Retrieved 16 November
- ^"Despite scandals and doubts, Orange County district attorney wants another term, and a shot at vindication". Los Angeles Times. July 9,
- ^Ortiz, Aimee (February 5, ). "Charges to Be Dropped Against Ex-Doctor and Girlfriend in California Assault Case".
The New York Times.
- ^ abcdOrange County Statewide Direct Primary Election
- ^[bare URL PDF]
- ^" General Election".