Everything-You-Need-To-Know Primer For 60 Minutes Show on OC Snitch Scandal

Producers at 60 Minutes announced this week they will air a May 21 CBS broadcast that will include a feature on Orange County’s notorious jailhouse informant scandal.

The controversy is sensational but also complex, especially given strenuous cover-up efforts by District Attorney Tony Rackauckas and Sheriff Sandra Hutchens, two unapologetic politicians.

(You can watch a preview clip of the show’s OC segment HERE.)

So, we’ve collected a series of articles from various news outlets to aid the show’s viewers understand what has become one of California’s most embarrassing, ongoing criminal justice disasters.

Here you go:

How Tony Rackauckas Took A Slam Dunk Death Penalty Case And Turned It Into His Wore Crisis, OC Weekly;

With Deputies Refusing To Testify Under Oath in Snitch Scandal, It’s Time For A Federal Probe, OC Weekly;

The Orange County Informant Scandal Just Got A Lot Nuttier, The Washington Post;

Who Wants To Free A Southern California Serial Killer? Orange County DA Tony Rackauckas, OC Weekly;

Anatomy of a Snitch Scandal: How Orange County Prosecutors Covered Up Rampant Misuse of Jailhouse Informants, The Intercept;

OC Sheriff Sandra Hutchens Refuses to Surrender Death Penalty Case Records, OC Weekly;

Another Secret Cache of Notes on Jail Informants Surface in Orange County Snitch Scandal, Huffington Post;

Meet OC & LA Law Enforcement’s Favorite Rats, OC Weekly;

District Attorney Tony Rackauckas Picks Watchdog With Troubling Ties, OC Weekly;

In Orange County’s Courthouse Scandals, Prosecutors and Sheriff United in Cover-Ups, OC Weekly;

How OC Law Enforcement Locked Up An Innocent 14-Year-Old Boy For Two Years, OC Weekly;

U.S. Examines Whether Orange County Violated Defendants’ Rights, The New York Times;

California Justices Hand DA Tony Rackauckas His Latest Embarrassment, OC Weekly;

Jailhouse Informant Scandal Is Rocking Criminal Justice System In Orange County, KABC News Los Angeles;

Accused Murderer Awaits Execution While OC Prosecutors Hide Exculpatory Evidence, OC Weekly;

Judge Vacates Jail Informant Secrecy Order Two Days After Critical OC Weekly Article, OC Weekly;

New Mysteries Mount in Old Murder Case “Solved” by DA Tony Rackauckas, OC Weekly;

Hidden Injustice: County Counsel Works To Keep OC’s Snitch Scandal Under Wraps, OC Weekly;

O.C. Prosecutors Steering Cases Away from Judge Thomas Goethals, Los Angeles Times;

DA Tony Rackauckas Still Hopes “Luck” Stories Explain Away OC Snitch Scandal, OC Weekly;

Judge Goethals: If Somebody Destroys Jailhouse Snitch Records, They’re Going To Jail, Orange County Register;

DA Tony Rackauckas Bullies Judges Who Slammed Cheating in Death Penalty Case, OC Weekly;

OC District Attorney’s Office Barred from Seal Beach Shooting Case, Voice of OC;

Police Doctored Report, Prosecutor Lied in Wild Attempted Murder Case Near Disneyland, OC Weekly.