An attorney for ex-sheriff Mike Carona attacked the government’s case this afternoon, calling it “fatally flawed” because of its reliance on witnesses whom he called liars.
“When you charge someone with a federal crime, you better be right. You better be able to prove every allegation you make,” Jeff Rawitz said. “(The prosecutors) have made several mistakes. The primary one was indicting Carona. Mr. Carona is not guilty.”
Rawitz questioned the reliability of testimony from former assistant sheriffs Don Haidl and George Jaramillo. Both men have pleaded guilty and agreed to cooperate in the government’s prosecution of Carona.
He questioned why prosecutors didn’t call Jaramillo as a witness. Jaramillo’s alleged actions — and his dealings with Carona — came up repeatedly in the trial.
“The government told you they were going to call him. We never saw him. He is fundamental to so much in this case,” Rawitz said.
“You should ask the question, why didn’t they allow us to judge George Jaramillo’s testimony ourselves?” he said.
Haidl testified that he gave Carona bribes, in exchange for full access to the Sheriff’s Department, as well as a “get-out-of-jail free card.”
Rawitz called the purported bribes “gifts,” saying they were exchanged among friends. He also pointed out Haidl’s future sentence will be influenced by prosecutors’ opinion of how he aided in the Carona trial.
“If anyone got a jail out of free card, the only person who got it was Don Haidl … from the United States of America,” Rawitz said. “When he testifies, he knows his master and his master are these prosecutors.”
About the case
- Complete coverage
- Live notes from the trial
- Frank Mickadeit’s column on Carona
- Interactive of Mike Carona’s career
Defense lawyers……gotta love ‘em. They would NEVER misrepresent the truth, are always honest, and their clients are never guilty…..
Is Carona going to yell “fatal flaws” as he is locked up?
If Carona is innocent Mr Rawitz how come you didn’t put him on the stand to discount what was said against him? Because he’s guilty!!
The only fatally flwed is Carona’s hypocrisy and ego.
what an insult to the Jury, Fatally flawed…. Oops I am a mensa intellect, however I failed to report all my income and gifts and an elected officially not once but several times on my form 700 statement of income I suppose that is the witness’s fault The defense could have called as a witness George Jaramillo ummmmmmmmmmmm wonder wny the defense did not call the main culprit Jaramillo?. Afraid of him running at the mouth about his brother for life Carona? Ummmmmmmmm it is all very fishy to me! All the witness are not liars, Carona is the main liar in his web of lies! Convict, convict , convict!
This is little doubt that Carona is guilty as sin for these charges as well as others that we may never know about. Unfortunately, it is likely that he will be found not guilty in this matter. One of the jury instructions will be that if the jury finds that a witness lied in one aspect of his testimony, then, absent compelling evidence to the contrary, the jury can disregard the entire testimony of that witness. This is were the prosecution’s case is rather weak. The jury can disregard much of the prosecutor’s most damning witness testimony. If the jury follows the law, then the fact that Carona did not testify will not matter.
A big problem with this case, as in many of these types of prosecutions, is that the prosecutor over promised and under delivered. A smart prosecutor will always under promise and over deliver. Juries don’t like to be told to expect a witness or some form of evidence only for it not to materialize at trial. This coupled with the over playing of the sexual aspects of the case, which had the appearance of a a public pillorizing of Carona, has put the prosecutor’s case at risk. The constant references in the pleadings and in the media to Carona’s “mistress” became tiresome and seemed vindictive, albeit true.
It appears that the prosecution wanted to “get” Carona a bit too much. This is too bad as he needed to be “gotten” for what he has done to office of sheriff of this county. The early interviews and press coverage of the prosecutor was a bit over the top and smelled of arrogance and ambition. This too will factor in the juries mind wen they deliberate. Prosecutoral overreaching and even the appearance of arrogance can be very off putting to juries leading to jury nullification and the acquittal of factually guilty defendants.
When this one falls they can go after the second pillar, the corrupt DA and star Defense witness Rackauckas. You can’t hide Mr. Rackauckas you are next.
After looking forward to this trial and looking forward to Mike being brought down, I’m disapointed to say that the feds presented a very weak case. He said, she said - being Haidl whose credibilty is shot and Jaramillo WHO has no credibilty and not being a credible witness to be called. leaves us where? Mike does not HAVE to testify in his own behalf and , I believe, that under the law, no conlusions can be drawn from that - or have i read too many books? You know Mike’s guilty of corruption. I know it. But has did the Feds prove it under the requriements of the law? I don’t know.
The defense can lie, the prosecution cannot, the prosecutor has to show all their cards, the defense doesnt have to. Hopefully, the jury will use common sense and convict. The guilty are convicted everyday and in every county in this land, by the testimony of their also guilty accomplices. The facts should not get in the way of the attorney arguments.
Well, if you read Frank Mickadeit’s column from today’s proceedings, and he was there, it sounds like the prosecution did a very good job of putting their eveidence out there. Now, the milion dollar question is….was & has the jury been paying attention. If so, Skippy’s off to prison where he belongs.
Who in their right mind would not agree that Carona is guilty of all of the charges and probably man more that were not part of the preosecution’s case. The truth is that Mike I believe had the little man syndrome and did what he did to make himself appear to be bigger than he is. George Washington once said “if you want to see the metal that a man is made of give him power”, well Corona had the power and as many men do he misused it! Lets hope that the Jury agrees and puts Mike where he belongs in a Federal Prison along with his wife and his mistress!
If Mickadeit has left the ship you can count on the fact that most of the other rats have already gone. Remember Skippy, you get what you pay for! But even your attorney’s couldn’t make chicken salad out of the s#$% you gave them to work with. Looks like it’s time to start prepping for an appeal.
to oc atty: Your summation is not how the game is played in a federal courthouse. Different set of rules prevail in federal court than in criminal or civil. Your other comments ring true.
This time instead of the taxpayers paying for a place for Mikey to F*ck they will pay for a place for Mikey to get F*cked. Thanks for putting me in prison Don, I love you man!!! Mike some phenomenal dick awaits you.
JB,
A very long post reference juries and how they think…..Regardless of the prosecutors original zeal, what are the jurors to think reference Carona not taking the stand in his own defense, and the recorded statements about the lack of a paper trail, pin hole camera, etc??
The Federal charges Carona is facing has a low bar for convicting, it’s much easier to “get” someone in Federal court…
Know Em All:
All criminal courts in this country (State and Federal) have the same “bar” for convicting - proof beyond a reasonable doubt. The is little dispute that there is all kinds of evidence outside of the questionable witness testimony to prop up the charges against Carona, however, when the key witnesses are so bad and the prosecutor is seen as brash and overly aggressive, it can neutralize the effect of that non testimonial evidence.
The jury is going to be instructed not to think anything about the fact that Carona did not take the stand as he is not required to under the 5th Amendment of the U.S. Constitution. In all practical sense, I am sure they will hold that against him at some level… Jaramillo, on the other hand, had no such 5th Amendment privilege since he was apparently granted immunity by the prosecutor. You can bet that the jury will be thinking a lot about his motivations to lie and why he was never ultimately called.
Don’t get me wrong, I want to see Carona convicted as I believe that he is guilty of everything (and more) that the prosecutor claims. Thankfully, juries do the “right thing” in most the cases. I just am a bit cautious here because of background of the case, the nature of this jury, the prosecutor’s behavior early on and the quality of the key witnesses. We will all see in a day or two.