Joined by two Sheriff's Office captains who earlier this week called on their boss to resign, San Mateo County Supervisor, Ray Mueller, shared definitive forensic evidence that the homophobic slur attributed to Sheriff Christina Corpus in Judge LaDoris Cordell's recently released independent report originated from her phone.
Mueller and Supervisor Noelia Corzo also released a government lawsuit from a former captain who resigned rather than arrest the president of the Deputy Sheriffs Association, the first lawsuit in what county leaders expect to be an avalanche of potentially costly litigation that would be paid for by taxpayers.
"This is money that should have been used to help the hungry, the sick and the vulnerable people in this county," Mueller said.
Mueller and Corzo also released a memo dated Nov. 14, 2024, from the sheriff's deputy to the sheriff.
In the document, the sheriff's deputy says Victor Aenlle, who had left the county by then, suggested he change the codes to the executive office's gun safe and stated, "This is how they're going to catch me." According to the memo, Perea did not comply, citing the ongoing investigation, and asked Aenlle not to contact him again.
Taken together, this evidence supports the conclusions of Cordell's report and demonstrates that the pattern of retaliation and questionable acts continues to this day, Mueller said.
Meanwhile, the Board of Supervisors said the Sheriff's Office continues to hemorrhage staff.
Mueller cited an organizational document from the sheriff's command staff, noting that the sheriff's deputy is the only member of the leadership team, other than the sheriff, who has not resigned, and that two captain positions are vacant.
Nearly all of Corpus's executive and leadership staff were hired or promoted by Corpus, Mueller said, so "when she tells the media and county residents that she's fighting a network of old friends, she's being dishonest."
For his part, Corzo called on the county, and specifically the Latino communities that supported Corpus, to look behind their lies.
"We need a sheriff we can trust," Corzo said.
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