Orange County District Attorney Todd Spitzer forced out a high-level prosecutor who was trying to protect lower-level colleagues who had suffered serial sexual harassment by another supervisor with close ties to Spitzer, an attorney for the former prosecutor told jurors on Monday, May 19 at the outset of a high-profile civil trial.
Former Senior Assistant District Attorney Tracy Miller is also accusing Spitzer of misconduct in a pair of high-profile capital murder cases, as part of a lawsuit against the county of Orange, Spitzer and Shawn Nelson, Spitzer’s former top deputy who has since become an Orange County Superior Court judge.
Miller’s attorney, John Barnett, during opening statements in a civil trial in a San Diego Superior Court courtroom on Monday, May 19, alleged that beginning in 2019 Spitzer and Nelson began targeting Miller, who at the time was a nearly 25-year-veteran prosecutor and the highest ranking woman at the DA’s Office.
Barnett alleged that Spitzer and Nelson were trying to protect then-DA supervisor Gary Logalbo, after female prosecutors accused him of sexual harassment. Logalbo had served more than two decades prior as best man at Spitzer’s wedding. A county report later said that Logalbo harassed four female attorneys under his supervision.
“When these allegations surfaced, Mr. Spitzer knew his office was in trouble,” Barnett said. “He knew that if this was believed, their office would suffer one of the worst scandals ever. …
“It is starting to look like he can’t even protect the members of his own office from sexual harassment,” the attorney added.
Miller’s lawsuit alleges that she was punished for “refusing to allow Spitzer to lionize the predator (Logalbo), gaslight and further savage the reputations of the victims.”
The retaliation began with “gender-based slurs” aimed at Miller by Spitzer and Nelson, Barnett told jurors, then increased to threats to take away her authority, to undermine her in front of subordinates and to dismantle an anti-gang program she had created.
Miller left the DA’s Office in January 2022.
Attorney Tracey Kennedy, who is representing the county, Spitzer and Nelson, told jurors that there was never a plan to target or get rid of Miller.
“He (Spitzer) had no reason to want to protect Mr. Logalbo at the expense of the Orange County DA’s Office and at the expense of his career,” Kennedy said.
“At no point in time did Mr. Spitzer or Mr. Nelson have this plan to get rid of Ms. Miller,” the defense attorney added.
Miller reached out to Spitzer prior to his taking office and shared her frustrations at the lack of promotions and opportunities for women at the time in the upper ranks of the DA’s Office, Kennedy said. Spitzer responded by promoting four women to senior DA management positions as soon as he took office, the defense attorney added.
Spitzer took the stand on Monday afternoon, but his early testimony under questioning by Barnett focused primarily on when he learned about concerns related to the objectivity of a Logalbo investigation.
Spitzer acknowledged that he knew people felt intimidated by the investigation, but largely blamed that on the outside investigator who was brought on to look into the allegations.
But, shown an email by one of the accusers, Spitzer acknowledged that the woman raised concern that her career was in jeopardy and questioned what role Spitzer would have in the investigation.
Spitzer is scheduled to return to the stand on Tuesday morning, May 20.
Opening statements in the trial largely focused on the fallout from the allegations against Logalbo, who voluntarily left the DA’s Office after being placed on leave and died in 2021.
But attorneys also briefly referenced allegations that Spitzer made racially charged comments in the criminal case against Jamon Buggs — a Black man convicted of killing a White couple in Newport Beach — and had improper contact with a man tied to the criminal case against Aminadab Gaxiola Gonzalez, accused of shooting to death four people at a real estate office in Orange.
In the Buggs case, Spitzer, during an internal meeting, asked about the race of Buggs’ former girlfriend and said he “knows many Black people who enhance their status by only dating ‘White women.’” Spitzer later said he was trying to determine the racial overtones of the case. A trial judge found that Spitzer had violated the state Racial Justice Act, but also determined the DA’s Office had taken proactive steps to remedy any harm by taking the death penalty off of the table.
In the Gonzalez case, Miller alleged that Spitzer had an improper phone conversation with the father of one of Gonzalez’s alleged victims in which the father mentioned an unrelated criminal case he was facing in which he was already represented by an attorney. Spitzer previously said he wasn’t aware of the criminal charges the father was facing and ended the call when he brought them up. Gonzalez — who was shot in the head by police — is in a state hospital after a judge found he was not competent to stand trial.
Miller’s attorneys allege that the alleged retaliation against her increased after she raised concerns about Spitzer’s actions in those two cases.
Spitzer — when Miller’s allegations were made public in 2022 — described the accusations as politically motivated, because they came just prior to a filing deadline for his re-election. Spitzer alleged that Miller and other disgruntled employees had been “indoctrinated” under Spitzer’s predecessor and political opponent, former DA Tony Rackauckas.
Testimony in the civil trial is expected to last several weeks. The trial is being held in front of a San Diego Superior Court judge because Nelson and other potential witnesses who used to work for the OCDA office are now Orange County judges.