WASHINGTON (Sputnik) — The US government will conduct a probe into the use of jailhouse informants by law enforcement officials in California’s Orange County, the Justice Department said in a press release.
“The Justice Department today opened a civil pattern-or-practice investigation into the Orange County District Attorney’s Office and the Orange County Sheriff’s Department, pursuant to the Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act of 1994,” the release said on Thursday.
The release further stated that the investigation will focus on claims that the sheriff’s department and the district attorney’s office systematically utilized jailhouse informants to get statements from specific prisoners, violating the Sixth Amendment.
According to the release, Civil Rights Division’s Special Litigation Section and the US Attorney’s Office of the Central District of California are conducting the investigation together.
