OC Assistant District Attorney terminated after sheriff's report finds increase in violent crime under Spitzer
Recent reports from the Orange County Sheriff’s Department show crime has skyrocketed since District Attorney Todd Spitzer took office. Graphic by HARRY LADA, Art Director
Brahim Baytieh, the senior assistant district attorney for Orange County, was fired by the county’s district attorney, Todd Spitzer, last week.
Baytieh’s termination came on the heels of a report by the Orange County Sheriff's Department that found homicides rates under Spitzer are the highest they have been in the past 22 years.
Pete Hardin, Spitzer’s opponent in the re-election, has been vocal that Spitzer’s “tough on crime” policies are largely ineffective. Hardin shed light on increasing rates of violent crime under Spitzer in a Feb. 1 press release.
“Department of Justice data shows that homicides have increased every year since DA Spitzer took office in January 2019. In the first two years of Todd Spitzer’s administration, assaults with a firearm increased 29%.”
According to the Department of Housing and Urban Development, homelessness has increased by more than 40% under Spitzer. The Human Relations Commission’s annual report also found that hate crimes against the Asian American and Pacific Islander community jumped more than 1800% from 2020 to 2021 alone.
Over the past week, rumors floated among Orange County political circles, calling into question the timing of Baytieh’s termination.
According to Spitzer, the decision stemmed from a 2010 murder conviction, in which Bayteih allegedly withheld evidence from the defense.
“This decision was as a result of allegations that a prosecutor filed under the prior administration to turn over information about an informant to the defense,” he said in a Feb. 8 statement.
However, anonymous sources reported to Voice of OC that Spitzer uttered racist comments about a defendant in a recent high-profile criminal case in the Orange County Superior Court. By law, these statements should have been disclosed to the defendant's attorney.
Bayteih and another prosecutor allegedly wrote memos about the situation that are currently being reviewed by a superior court judge.
Kimberly Edds, Spitzer’s spokesperson, has dismissed allegations that Spitzer fired Bayetih to protect himself.
“The investigation is solely related to the Smith case; it is both a personnel issue and a litigation issue,” Edds told Voice of OC. “The information that you were provided by unnamed sources is inaccurate. Spitzer did not utter any racist statements.”
Bayteih has remained quiet other than releasing a brief statement Feb. 11 — his last day in the district attorney’s office.
“People who know me, including my colleagues, opposing counsel and judicial officers, know that I always carried out my responsibilities by following the highest ethical standards,” Bayteih said. “I am excited and energized to continue working hard on my judicial campaign, and I will spare no effort to earn the trust and support of the voters in the upcoming (OC Superior Court) election.”
Spitzer released a Feb. 10 statement acknowledging the negative impacts that the “tough on crime” policies have had on communities of color.
“As a society, (we) have engaged in systemic mass incarceration; as a prosecutor, I will stop it,” Spitzer wrote. “We have prosecuted people of color differently. As a prosecutor, I will stop it.”
Spitzer’s remarks were met with contempt from some OC progressives. Sally Sanders, who has lived in Orange County since 1988, was present at a Jan. 30 protest pushing for Spitzer’s removal from office.
“(Spitzer) supports stiffer penalties for drug related crimes, including the death penalty for fentanyl-related deaths,” Sanders told The Panther. “The drug war was created to punish, control and incarcerate Black and Brown people.”
Kim Anderson, president of the Democratic Women of South Orange County, believes that Spitzer’s numerous ethical breaches are grounds to get him removed from office.
“DA Todd Spitzer has become far too comfortable with allowing his personal racist and misogynistic views to affect the way he handles his job,” Anderson told The Panther. “We need a more principled person in Orange County’s highest legal office.”
Spitzer is now facing a lawsuit for defaming a victim advocate and remains the only DA in Califirnia history to be removed from a case for his treatment of sexual assult survivors.
“Four women in Spitzer’s office have filed claims asserting Spitzer promoted an employee and close friend despite having been made aware of the sexual harassment complaints against him,” Hardin said in a Feb. 1 statement. “Spitzer also attempted to drop sexual assault charges against high-profile defendants, leading a judge to remove him from the case.”
Sanders hopes that Orange County residents can come together to get Spitzer removed from office this June.
“(Spitzer) is part of a dangerous movement, and it’s gaining power,” Sanders said. “The most important thing is to get him out.”