Blog Post
Orange County Bar Association Criminal Law Section’s “State of the County"
On December 5, the Orange County Bar Association’s (OCBA) Criminal Law section hosted their annual “State of the County” event. Organized by OCBA board member and AUSA Jennifer Waier and joined by AUSA and Chief of the Santa Ana Branch Benjamin Barron and AUSA Rob Keenan, panel members included United States Attorney Martin Estrada, Federal Public Defender Cuauhtémoc Ortega, Orange County District Attorney Todd Spitzer and Orange County Deputy Public Defender Martin Schwartz.
The event was moderated by Orange County Superior Court Judge Cheri Pham. Topics included the impact of COVID on trials, case management, and virtual court hearings, the priorities of each respective office, cooperation between the government offices and civility among attorneys. U.S. Attorney Estrada highlighted that the Office’s trial backlog due to the pandemic has largely subsided, and the Office is back to normal operations. He further explained that the USAO’s top priority is to continue to bring impactful cases in areas of pressing need, including white collar crime, public corruption, violent crime, and the fentanyl crisis in the district.

Updated January 20, 2025
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Community Outreach
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