O.C. D.A. made racist comments in case of Black defendant, former colleague alleges
Orange County Dist. Atty. Todd Spitzer pictured in front of his office in 2019.
(Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times)
BY HANNAH FRYSTAFF WRITER
FEB. 16, 2022 UPDATED 7:01 PM
An Orange County prosecutor who was fired last week previously wrote a memo detailing racist comments he alleged his boss, Dist. Atty. Todd Spitzer, made while discussing the case of a Black murder defendant, according to copies of the internal documents obtained by The Times.
Former prosecutor Ebrahim Baytieh alleged in a memo dated Dec. 3 that during a meeting of top prosecutors on Oct. 1, Spitzer said that he knows “many black people who get themselves out of their bad circumstances and bad situations by only dating white women.”
Spitzer was discussing the case of a Black man, Jamon Buggs, charged with fatally shooting two people, allegedly because of jealousy over an ex-girlfriend, who is white, according to the memo


Orange County Dist. Atty. Todd Spitzer pictured in front of his office in 2019.
(Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times)
BY HANNAH FRYSTAFF WRITER
FEB. 16, 2022 UPDATED 7:01 PM
An Orange County prosecutor who was fired last week previously wrote a memo detailing racist comments he alleged his boss, Dist. Atty. Todd Spitzer, made while discussing the case of a Black murder defendant, according to copies of the internal documents obtained by The Times.
Former prosecutor Ebrahim Baytieh alleged in a memo dated Dec. 3 that during a meeting of top prosecutors on Oct. 1, Spitzer said that he knows “many black people who get themselves out of their bad circumstances and bad situations by only dating white women.”
Spitzer was discussing the case of a Black man, Jamon Buggs, charged with fatally shooting two people, allegedly because of jealousy over an ex-girlfriend, who is white, according to the memo
