Orange County Sheriff Deputy Suspended After Repeated Misconduct Claims
voiceofoc.org
After years of concerns from the county public defender’s office around Sgt. Matt LeFlore’s handling of evidence and eavesdropping on prisoners at the county jail, he’s been placed on leave.

    Sheriff’s department spokesperson Carrie Braun declined to say why the department suspended Sgt. Matt LeFlore, but said he was placed on paid leave Aug. 15.

    “We are restricted by POBRA (Peace Officers Bill of Rights) from discussing the conditions of administrative leave,” Braun said in a statement…

    LeFlore’s tenure at the sheriff’s department has regularly moved into the public spotlight over the last three years, starting when it came out that he was appointed to serve as an investigator during the sheriff’s evidence mishandling crisis.

    He was later removed from that team after it came out he too had mishandled evidence, a fact the sheriff’s department was aware of when they appointed him to investigate the problem, according to a court motion filed by Sanders.

    LeFlore was one of 17 deputies referred to the Orange County District Attorney’s office for prosecution after a review of the evidence booking issue, but was never charged.

    Earlier this year, the public defender’s office filed a motion in court alleging that LeFlore illegally eavesdropped on an inmate named Taylor Camuferguson at the county jail in 2017.

    After overhearing insults against him through listening to a jail phone call, LeFlore reopened a case on Camufergson that led to a felony conviction.

    In one of the first recordings, Jon Andersen, Camuferguson’s lawyer, had a clear message for any sheriff’s employees listening in:

    “Let me put something on this recording. To all of you little bastard sheriffs who are listening in on this conversation, this is a conversation between an attorney and a client,” Andersen said. “Any attempt to listen to it or monitor it, you’re committing a felony and I will prosecute your ass.”

    According to the records presented by the public defenders’ office, LeFlore continued listening.

    LeFlore was also called out by name by Andersen during one of the recorded conversations he eavesdropped on.

    “This is a telephone call between attorney/clients, attorney Jon Andersen … and his client,” Andersen said in the final recording. “Anyone attempts to listen to this, especially that five foot tall, deceitful, lying Orange County Sheriff named LeFlore, we’ll seek prosecution, guaranteed. So don’t listen in.”