An Orange County superior court judge, a former prosecutor, ordered the District Attorney’s Office removed from the prosecution of the man accused of the eight murders and one attempted murder at the Salon Meritage. The alleged use of jailhouse informants against the defendant was responsible for the unusual court ruling by Judge Thomas Goethal. The prosecution of the case will now be handled by the California Attorney General’s Office.
Defense efforts to dismiss the death penalty failed. The DA’s Office has until March 20 to appeal the ruling that removes the Orange County prosecution agency from the court case.
