Van Winkle v. County of Ventura

POBRA is the acronym for the Public Safety Officers Procedural Bill of Rights Act. (Gov. Code, § 3300 et seq.; hereafter also referred to as Act.) It provides certain protections for law enforcement officers who are the subjects of administrative investigations.

Here we hold these protections do not apply to officers subject to criminal investigations conducted by their employers.

Defendants County of Ventura, the Ventura County Sheriff’s Department and Sheriff Bob Brooks (collectively the County) appeal an injunction which prevents them from using certain statements made by plaintiff Michael Chad Van Winkle, during a criminal investigation, at his civil service hearing. Van Winkle, a former deputy sheriff, made these statements after he was arrested for embezzling property from the sheriff’s department and after waiving his Miranda rights. (Miranda v. Arizona (1966) 384 U.S. 436 [ 16 L.Ed.2d 694 , 86 S.Ct. 1602 ] (Miranda).) He challenged his termination and brought an action under POBRA for injunctive relief claiming, among other things, that statements he made during a criminal investigation must be suppressed in his civil service hearing because the County violated…