Oral arguments will be heard Friday on whether ex-Orange County Sheriff Mike Carona should remain free pending appeal of his conviction for witness tampering, U.S. District Judge Andrew Guilford ruled Monday.
Carona is due to surrender July 24 to begin serving a 5 1/2 year federal prison sentence.
The appeals process could be lengthy. Final briefs are due at the 9th U.S. District Circuit Court of Appeal on Oct. 19. Arguments before the appellate judges would be heard sometime after that.
Prosecutors, who want Carona imprisoned during the appeals process, argue the ex-lawman is a danger to society, citing his lack of remorse.
In papers filed Friday, Assistant U.S. Attorney Ken Julian noted that Guilford had criticized Carona for his celebratory demeanor after a jury acquitted him of five of six corruption-related counts. During Carona's sentencing, Guilford said Carona's claims of vindication sent the wrong message about respect for the law.
Julian said Carona's lack of remorse does "not provide any assurance that he would refrain from similar obstructive and unlawful conduct in the future." Defense attorney Jeffrey Rawitz has argued that Carona presents no danger to the public.
The witness-tampering charge stemmed from a secretly recorded conversation Carona had on Aug. 13, 2007, with Don Haidl, the key witness against him in the trial.
Prosecutors maintained that Carona accepted more than $350,000 in cash and gifts from the wealthy businessman, and in return, made him an assistant sheriff, though Haidl lacked a law enforcement background.
The central point of Carona's appeal centers on California State Bar Rule 2-100, which bars opposing lawyers from contacting someone involved in the case who has a lawyer.
Rawitz said prosecutors violated that rule when they sent Haidl -- who was wired for sound -- to meet with Carona.
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Julian denied governmental wrongdoing in the case.
"Here, prosecutors did not violate defendant's constitutional rights in making the August 13 recording," Julian wrote. "Nor did prosecutors violate any other right of defendant because Rule 2-100 is 'a rule governing attorney conduct ... and does not create a right in a party not to be contacted by opposing counsel.'"
Carona, 53, was acquitted on Jan. 16 of five other corruption counts, including conspiracy and withholding honest services from the residents of Orange County.
Carona was sheriff from January 1999 through January 2008. He stepped down after being indicted to concentrate on his defense.
