OC judge, when a prosecutor, failed to tell defense police reports were fabricated, says judicial commission lawyer

An Orange County judge while serving as a prosecutor failed to disclose that police reports had been fabricated in a murder case involving the death of an off-duty Los Angeles County sheriff’s deputy, an attorney for the state Commission on Judicial Performance told a panel of judges on Monday, April 25.

A California Highway Patrol supervisor “colluded” with the Orange County District Attorney’s Office to “facilitate a murder conviction,” the attorney for the judicial commission alleged as a hearing into the conduct of Superior Court Judge Michael Murray began in a Santa Ana courtroom.

Murray is accused of failing to disclose the altered CHP reports to defense attorneys and using them to convict Cole Wilkins, a Long Beach man charged with causing the traffic death of Deputy David Piquette, who was 34.

An attorney representing Murray told the three-strong panel of judges that public defenders learned of the altered reports before Murray did and said the initial CHP reports had to be corrected. Murray has previously argued that the altered reports had no bearing on the murder case.

The judges — formally known as special masters — were appointed by the state Supreme Court to conduct the hearing into Murray’s conduct, and have the power to censure, suspend or remove him from the bench.

The hearing is being held at the state appellate court building in downtown Santa Ana, a short walk from the Orange County Superior Courthouse where Murray is assigned as a judge.

On a July 2006 morning, a stove stolen from a Riverside County construction site fell from a pickup truck driven by Wilkins onto the 91 Freeway. Piquette, driving to work around 5 a.m., died after swerving into a cement truck, apparently to avoid the stove.

An initial CHP investigation concluded that Piquette’s driving at a high speed, not the stove, was the primary cause of the accident.

But a CHP sergeant later had the report changed to say the accident was not Piquette’s fault, bolstering the prosecution’s case against Wilkins, the commission’s lawyer alleges, with the sergeant then destroying the initial report that placed the blame for the accident on Piquette.

Al least one other report, a traffic report, was also allegedly altered, officials said.

In 2008, Murray, then a veteran member of the District Attorney’s Office’s homicide unit, prosecuted Wilkins, who was convicted of murder and sentenced to 26 years to life in prison.

The trial occurred under the administration of former District Attorney Tony Rackauckas, who was unseated by current District Attorney Todd Spitzer in 2018.

The 2008 conviction was overturned a decade later by an appellate court because of faulty jury instructions. The changed reports and alleged prosecutorial misconduct came to light a short time later.

Following a 2017 retrial, Wilkins was convicted of second-degree murder. Later, the conviction was reduced to manslaughter following a successful appeal and the sentence reduced to four years, resulting in Wilkins, who by then had served 13 years in prison, being released.

During a 2017 re-trial because of faulty jury instructions, Wilkins was convicted of second-degree murder. Later, the conviction was reduced to manslaughter following a successful appeal and the sentence reduced to four years, resulting in Wilkins, who by then had served 13 years in prison, being released.

The commission alleges that Murray was notified several times during the Wilkins case that the CHP reports had been doctored, including by an Orange County Register reporter and another prosecutor who had taken over the case.

A former CHP assistant chief on Monday testified that he called Murray to tell him about the changes to the reports, and described the prosecutor responding that it didn’t matter because Wilkins was a fleeing felon. Mark Lizarraga, a commission attorney, also noted that Wilkins original defense attorney during his 2008 sentencing hearing brought up concerns about the CHP report, which he alleged Murray never followed up on.

“Judge Murray does nothing,” Lizarraga said. “He makes no inquiries. Judge Murray fails to disclose, failed to inquire.”

Murray — a West Point graduate who was elected to the bench in 2016 — has previously been criticized by judges and appellate justices for his conduct in the Wilkins case.

Murray, in his formal answer to the state commission, conceded the altered report should have been shared with defense attorneys but said he didn’t know during the trial that the report had been changed.

Murray’s attorney, Edith Matthai, said Wilkins’ first defense attorney failed to provide specific information to Murray on the changes to the CHP reports. Matthai said that around the time when the case was returned following the appeal, Murray was recovering from major back surgery, adding that public defenders learned of the fabricated CHP report before Murray did.

Matthai also argued that the initial CHP report blaming Piquette’s driving ignored the conditions and visibility on the roadway, adding that “the California Highway Patrol did not want to send out a report that was just plain wrong.”

Testimony in the hearings is expected to last a few weeks.

Staff writer Tony Saavedra contributed to this report.

Source: Orange County Register