Records Show Key Details About Investigation Into Councilmember, City Withholding Complete Findings

JL Group interviewed Santa Ana cops Luis Casillas and Isaac Ibarra, evidence and findings report withheld by city officials.

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Santa Ana police staging at a protest in 2020. Credit: Ben Camacho

SANTA ANA - Public records pertaining to a city-hired investigator’s inquiry into police officers’ complaints against a council member show key details about the probe, while other records continue to be withheld by the city. Last month, the city released a redacted version of its contract with JL Group, the firm hired to look into Santa Ana Police Department (SAPD) officers Luis Casillas’, Isaac Ibarra’s, and Nelson Menendez’s complaints lodged against Councilmember Johnathan Hernandez last summer. The city also released a redacted invoice from JL Group, which contained a live link to a payment portal that displayed the unredacted invoice. The invoice marks the first time that city records plainly show that Casillas and Ibarra are the cops involved. Menendez’s name was missing from the invoice, but he confirmed that he did not participate in the investigation due to a pending legal claim against the city. The contract released is also a part of a cache of unlisted city agreements.

Together, the records offer scant transparency into the complaints and investigation that took place after city officials publicly discussed the complaints and potential misconduct of Hernandez. It was widely reported on by local press, with even the police association president chiming in. This culminated on February 3 when City Attorney Sonia Carvalho reported publicly that investigators could not sustain the complaints, and that Hernandez and one of the officers — Menendez — did not participate in the investigation. There was no mention of reasons why JL Group did not sustain the complaints, and no details about the evidence involved.

But the unredacted invoice reviewed by Inadvertent showed line items that indicated that investigators met with city council behind closed doors at least twice, interviewed Casillas and Ibarra with their respective attorney present, and conducted research of “public information” and social media accounts. The invoice further showed that JL Group forwarded the final report to the city attorney’s office around February 1, just two days prior to Carvalho announcing the result. Carvalho confirmed her office is in possession of the findings report but has refused to disclose it publicly, stating that the city council must waive its confidentiality privilege for the city to disclose the report.

Casillas and Ibarra did not respond to repeated requests for comment.

Of the complaints not being sustained, Hernandez stated that Carvalho told him at the last council meeting that officers “could not produce any evidence.”

Carvalho did not respond to questions about the conversation with Hernandez, why the invoice was heavily redacted, and why the city does not publicize every agreement it enters into.

The complaints were filed in July last year and were investigated by the city’s human resources department, according to city staff at the October 7 council meeting. The outcome of those investigations was not disclosed publicly, and at that same meeting, the city moved to have an outside investigator look into the matter. There has yet to be full transparency into the city-hired investigator’s findings.

The invoice suggests that more records beyond the report and evidence gathered exist. According to the invoice, call logs, emails, and conference call invites between city officials and JL Group that could offer more insight to the investigation are in the city’s possession. Aside from Casillas and Ibarra being named, Tamara Bogosian, Laura Rossini, and Brett Rutkowski are also named. Bogosian and Rossini are assistant city attorneys. Rutkowski is an associate at Ferrone Law Group¹ who represents the Santa Ana Police Officers Association (SAPOA). He is a former Los Angeles police officer². Casillas and Ibarra are both still under investigation by the California Department of Justice for the shooting death of Noe Rodriguez.

The total amount shown on the invoice is $12,258.55. When last checked, the city still owed JL Group this amount.

Jeffrey Love, the head of JL Group, said, “Regarding your inquiry, I was engaged as an attorney and cannot respond to your questions or provide you with any documents based on attorney-client privilege.”

Love did not respond to a follow up question about Casillas and Ibarra’s evidence and how the lack-of may have impacted the probe.

The little information that was left unredacted on the city’s contract showed that JL Group was hired by the city on October 30, 2025 to “review and opine regarding a workplace administrative investigation(s).” The scope of the contract is completely redacted, which means taxpayers cannot see precisely what the city authorized to spend public dollars on. The contract is authorized for $25,000 with an additional $15,000 if the investigation requires more work.

The city also refused to release the complete, unredacted contract. Despite being a public contract and included in the city manager’s office quarterly contract report, the agreement has not been disclosed on the city’s public documents database. It is unclear why it was not listed, despite being a disclosable public record about what the city is spending taxpayer money on. Via email, Carvalho stated, “We have been transparent about contracting for the service, showing you the pages of the contract with redactions.”

The redacted letter agreement between the city and JL Group. Credit: City of Santa Ana

The agreement missing from the city’s database is consistent with other contracts and settlement agreements also being unlisted. To date, the city has released through a public records request fifteen previously unlisted agreements, one of which has since been uploaded to the city’s database. Among the contracts are: former police chief David Valentin’s cooperation agreement (a contract that guaranteed payment for him to cooperate with the city in ongoing litigation as a witness), former city manager Kristine Ridge’s settlement agreement stemming from a legal claim alleging Mayor Valerie Amezcua is controlled by the SAPOA, and a settlement agreement stemming from Inadvertent suing the city for failure to release police misconduct records, such as the Culichi Town Incident records.

Without further disclosures from the city about the investigation and unlisted contracts, Santa Ana residents are left in the dark about how city hall conducts business.

1. Last year, Ferrone Law Group’s Michael McGill sent Inadvertent a cease-and-desist letter. This silliness was quickly put to bed by The Law Office of Shakeer Rahman, who educated McGill on relevant laws and advised him that further legal action against Inadvertent would result in his client, the SAPOA, paying Inadvertent’s legal fees. Inadvertent’s subsequent fundraiser and memes were inspired by the SAPOA and McGill.

2. In 2014, Rutkowski shot an unarmed man in the buttocks.