Day 3 Of The Mike Carona Trial...The "Little Sheriff" Makes An Appearance

Day three of the Carona trial ended with the defense getting denied a motion for a mistrial. The day started with accountant George Feles on the stand continuing his testimony from yesterday. He worked with Carona mistress Debra Hoffman while she still had her law practice going. He said that Hoffman told her that her small "closet sized office" was used for an occasional romp with the Sheriff. Feles told federal agents that he was afraid for his safety because of George Jaramillo. He was worried because he knew Jaramillo was unstable and could lash back at him at any time because of the information he knew and because of Jaramillo's connections in law enforcement.

Next on the stand was Lisa Jaramillo. She hopes by testifying that she can win her husband a more lenient sentence. She testified today that she knew Mike Carona was having an affair with Debra Hoffman and her sister Erika Hill. Then the prosecution began showing the famous "little sheriff" birthday cards. She said Carona would sometimes sign the birthday cards with interlocking Cs...i.e. CC which stood for "cocky Carona" according to her. The next card put up on the big screen was signed by the Sheriff, Mrs Sheriff, and the R. Scott Moxely made famous signature of the "The Little Sheriff", LOL. She testified that Don Haidl was very important for Carona's fundraising. He was known as the "money man". She saw the first 10 $1000 checks that Carona picked up from Don Haidl's house in Newport Beach. She testified that she saw Mike Carona with his arms around a crying Erika Hill outside of Debra Hoffman's law office and overheard him say that if anyone is going to jail over these illegal campaign contributions, it would be him. Then Lisa Jaramillo started crying and addressed Mrs Carona that she wished she was a better friend to Debra Carona and told her about all the things she had seen and heard about her husband the sheriff. She said she was very sorry, but she can't lie. At this point in the testimony, the defense asks for a mistrial. They said the jury has been irreparably prejudiced, but the motion is denied.

The trial will resume on Tuesday and it is expected that after the defense is finished cross examining Lisa Jaramillo, Don Haidl will start testifying as well as the playing of the now infamous audio recordings.

I was also made aware of today that there will be some bombshells upcoming in the trial and to expect some significant collateral damage to some GOP politicos.

Frank Mickadeit Doubts Mike Carona's Guilt

After reading Frank Mickadeit's Register column this morning about the opening of the Carona Trial yesterday, one can only surmise that Frank has doubts about Mike Carona's guilt. He thinks that all three star government witnesses[all BTW former close Carona associates] against the former sheriff are liars and have credibility problems. Umm, what does that say about Mike Carona Frank? He's the one that chose to associate himself with all these criminals. What does that say about his judgement and character? How is it possible that all these people are liars and have already pled guilty to numerous federal charges, but Carona didn't know anything that was going on? The answer is, it is not possible. I don't know what Frank is thinking. Maybe he got slipped some kool-aid by team Carona? Memo to Frank: I really like your daily columns, but could you lay off the fantasy that Carona is going to be exonerated.

Larry Agran Caught Taking BribesMoney From Great Park Contractors

Merriam's defintion of bribe:

1. money or favor given or promised in order to influence the judgment or conduct of a person in a position of trust
2. something that serves to induce or influence

The race here in Irvine is coming down to the wire with and what do ya know, Larry Agran is taking bribesmoney from Great Park contractors. Has he crossed the line here? I'll let you the readers be the judge. It's right there in black and white. He's taken almost $60k in contributions from people and firms with business at the GP. He's shameless. He's quoted in the Register article saying that the bribescontributions were for Measure R. That is an insult to people's intelligence. These are his own words...

"It is after all a measure that ratifies and implements two to three years of work in planning, designing and building the Great Park and charts a path to move forward," Agran said. "I'd be shocked if people who are involved in that effort on a daily basis aren't keenly interested in Measure R's success."

This is also the same guy that puts an ethics charter amendment through on lobbyists. Words escape me right now to convey how slimy this guy is. The Grand Jury should be all over this story. It's a blatant quid pro quo....Larry gets campaign bribesmoney and contractors get awarded projects by Larry at the Great Park. Anyone who can't see this or denies it is living in Fantasyland.

As usual, Stephen Smith over at the Irvine Tattler had the story first.

tylerh over at Red County has also joined the fray

Carona Trial Is Getting Started

They are finalizing the jury pool today and the next few days. After that I expect the trial to start probably at the end of next week it looks like. I can't believe this guy hasn't cut a deal yet with the prosecution. I still feel in my gut that we won't get the benefit of a very public trial. I hope I am wrong. Carona must be made an example of. This was one of OC's most corrupt officials ever....ahhh alledgedly. One of the main reasons I ran for the OC GOP Central Committee was the endorsement that my party bestowed upon him before his last re-election in 2006. It stunk to high heaven. It was obvious this guy was on the take and a dirty cop, yet all the stops were pulled out to get him endorsed because power was what mattered the most. I've been getting a lot of "sorry Allan you guys were right about this guy" lately from people in my party. I only wish they would have stuck up for what was right when it really counted the most. Nevertheless, I'm happy that most have admitted they were wrong on this issue. There are still a few people defending this guy out of the principle of innocent until proven guilty. I can understand that, but it still doesn't excuse the known factual behavior of the Sheriff. I guess these are the ones that will need to hear a poll of the jurors after he is convicted to finally admit they were wrong.

Update On My Sister Amy Bartlett

It has been one and half years since my sister Amy was diagnosed with with stage 3B Non-Hodgkins Lymphoma. She is now in remission and doing great. In fact this next weekend, she will be running in the NYC Marathon with the Lance Armstrong Livestrong Team. She emailed me earlier this week to ask me what song I would dedicate to her for her iPOD marathon playlist. Without hesitation I choose Bruce Springsteen's "No Surrender" from his Born In The USA album. The title speaks for itself...not to mention it is a great song to workout to. Amy was interviewed by Lance's foundation before the race. Without further ado....

Click here to watch her video

Quote Of The Day

On taxes, the Democrat candidate favors a top tax rate of 39.8% and the Republican favors a top rate of 35%. Well ain't democracy grand. We get to debate a whole four and half percentage points. We better spread this system all over the world!

Professor Thomas Woods speaking at the Rally For The Republic

Picture Of The Day

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