Part 3: FBI Details Investigation Into The D.A.

The Riverside County District Attorney’s Office has repeatedly denied an FBI investigation inside its offices.

But FBI papers obtained by NewsChannel 3 are proving otherwise. Signed by FBI supervisory special agent Robert Buehler, the FBI papers detail its investigation on how the D.A.’s office handled the firing of Luis Bolaños.

Bolaños was fired and arrested in 2005 for domestic violence and perjury charges.

His attorney, Ulrich McNulty, had one strategy.

“We’re not going to put on any defense here,” McNulty said. “The main reason is I did nothing and if just a reasonable investigation would have been conducted, it would have not gone that far.”

Witnesses like Olga Bates came forward to say Bolaños’ ex-wife made the charges up. But she says she was ignored by the District Attorney’s Office.

“The judge took all of the prosecutor’s information, listens to the witnesses and took a break,” Bates said. “It took him about five to six minutes to make a decision, he came back and he dropped every single count.”

He was declared an innocent man. But when Bolaños tried to get his job back, the D.A.’s office insisted Bolaños to accept a negative mark on his file.

When the D.A.’s investigator gets written up it goes on the D.A.’s own computers called the Brady Database. The question is should somebody be written up at work even after a judge declares them innocent?

Assistant District Attorney Sue Steding said in court transcripts even an allegation is enough for an investigator to get a black mark on his Brady Database record.

“A simple allegation is all you need,” Steding said. “It doesn’t matter what the results are of it.”

Spokesperson Ingrid Wyatt denies the D.A.’s office is being investigated by the FBI.

FBI papers, however, say they are investigating wrongful termination claims, gathering lots of evidence and interviewing witnesses.

“I was interviewed by two FBI agents and they were amazed that after my letter of complaint to the district attorney about Candette’s investigation and her behavior, that no one bothered to talk to me from that office,” Olga Bates said.

FBI documents obtained by Newschannel 3 show the FBI is investigating 14 packets of documents concerning the Luis Bolaños case. They include:

DA Investigator Candette Hammond’s complete report. She was the DA’s office investigator whose findings lead to the domestic violence arrest of Luis Bolaños. He was later exonerated of all charges.

All interviews of witnesses, including those who tell Newschannel 3 that the District Attorney’s office ignored their statements in support of Bolaños.

All writings by the ex-wife of Luis Bolaños who charges him with domestic violence. Including her recant letter.

A recently retired FBI agent tells Newschannel 3 that the investigation has gone from its initial phase to a second higher phase.

It’s current status is not known at this time. Calls to the FBI Political Corruption Office in West Covina have gone unanswered.