By Jamie Joaquin
ORANGE, CA — Orange County District Attorney Todd Spitzer removed former Senior Assistant District Attorney Tracy Miller after her attempt to protect fellow colleagues, victims of sexual harassment by a former supervisor and longtime friend of Spitzer, according to opening statements in a civil trial that began Monday, as reported by the Orange County Register.
In the lawsuit, Miller—who was the highest-ranking woman in the DA’s office at the time—accuses Spitzer of mishandling two murder cases, one of which involved improper contact with a man tied to the case and the other involving racially charged comments, the Orange County Register reported.
Miller’s attorney, John Barnett, stated in court that the lawsuit targets Orange County, including Todd Spitzer and his former top deputy, Shawn Nelson, who allegedly began targeting Miller in early 2019 after she opposed efforts to protect Gary Logalbo, a DA supervisor accused of sexual harassment. A later county report revealed that Logalbo had harassed four female attorneys during his tenure.
Barnett told the jury, “When these allegations surfaced, Mr. Spitzer knew his office was in trouble. 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.”
Miller’s lawsuit claims she resisted Spitzer’s attempts to “lionize the predator (Logalbo), gaslight, and further savage the reputations of the victims,” according to the Orange County Register.
Barnett explained that the retaliation escalated over time, starting with gender-based slurs, threats to strip Miller of her authority, public undermining of her leadership, and dismantling the programs she had created. Miller left the DA’s office in January 2022 after 25 years of service.
Representing Spitzer and Nelson, attorney Tracey Kennedy countered Miller’s allegations, telling jurors that there was no coordinated effort to remove Miller from office.
“He (Spitzer) had no reason to want to protect Mr. Logalbo at the expense of the Orange County DA’s Office and his career… At no point did Mr. Spitzer or Mr. Nelson have this plan to get rid of Ms. Miller,” Kennedy said, as quoted by the Orange County Register.
According to Kennedy, Miller had expressed frustration about the lack of women in senior positions at the DA’s office prior to Spitzer’s tenure. In response, Spitzer promoted multiple women to senior ranks after becoming DA.
Spitzer testified Monday afternoon, detailing the moment he became aware of concerns surrounding the Logalbo investigations. According to the Orange County Register, Spitzer admitted that some employees had expressed discomfort but attributed the reactions to the fact that an outside investigator, not the DA’s office, had brought the case. Spitzer also acknowledged receiving an email from one of the female accusers, who expressed concern about her career due to the investigation.
Logalbo voluntarily left the office after being placed on leave following the allegations, and died in 2021.
Miller’s lawsuit also raises concerns about Spitzer’s handling of two capital murder cases. In the criminal case against Jamon Buggs, a Black man convicted of murdering a white couple, Spitzer allegedly made racially charged comments during an internal meeting. When asked about Buggs’ former partner’s race, Spitzer reportedly said, “I know many Black people who enhance their status by only dating ‘White women,’” as quoted by the Orange County Register.
Spitzer later defended his comments in a memo delivered to the judge, claiming he was attempting to understand potential racial overtones in the case. Buggs was sentenced to life in prison, and Spitzer was found in violation of the Racial Justice Act—California legislation prohibiting race, ethnicity, or national origin from influencing convictions or sentences. However, the judge determined that the DA’s office had taken sufficient steps to remove the death penalty as a sentencing option.
The second criminal case raised in the lawsuit accuses Spitzer of improper contact with the father of a victim in a mass shooting committed by Aminadab Gaxiola Gonzalez, who killed four people. Spitzer allegedly had a phone conversation with the father, who mentioned having legal representation for unrelated charges. However, Spitzer denied knowledge of these charges and ended the call when the father referred to them. Gonzalez, who was shot in the head by police, has been deemed unfit for trial and is currently in a state hospital, as reported by the Orange County Register.
According to Miller’s attorneys, retaliation against Miller intensified after she expressed concerns about Spitzer’s handling of these two cases. After Miller’s allegations went public in 2022, Spitzer dismissed the accusations as politically motivated, citing their release coinciding with his re-election filing deadline, the Orange County Register reported.
This high-profile civil trial is expected to be ongoing in the coming weeks. It is being heard in San Diego due to the involvement of multiple former DA’s office employees, including Nelson, who now serve as Orange County Superior Court judges.
