Sheriff Sandra Hutchens on Thursday continued to deny using a 2009 budget shortfall as an excuse to purposely target five former members of her command staff, as she returned to court to testify in a wrongful termination trial.

During her fourth day on the witness stand, Hutchens testified that she had no choice but to carry out the “drastic cuts” among the upper ranks of the department. As a result of the budget turmoil, Hutchens said she opted to lay off members of her command staff rather than the department’s rank-and-file, combined some divisions and protected key areas such as patrol, investigations and jail operations.

The wrongful termination lawsuit was brought by former assistant sheriffs Jack Anderson and John Davis, along with former captains Brian Cossairt, Deana Bergquist and Robert Eason. Orange County Superior Court Judge Frederick P. Aguirre will ultimately make the final ruling in the non-jury trial.

The five former law enforcement officials believe they were targeted for dismissal due to their ties to disgraced former Sheriff Mike Carona, who left the department after being indicted on corruption charges. They are seeking millions in back pay, along with reinstatement.

On Thursday, Hutchens testified that she alone made the final decision about who would be laid off.

“Can you think of anything you failed to do that you now think you could have done to avert these layoffs?” asked attorney Norman Watkins, who is representing the Sheriff’s Department and the county.

“I really can’t,” the sheriff replied. ‘We had literally looked at everything for months and months and months. We got to the point where we couldn’t keep taking one little piece from this division and one little piece from this division.”

Hutchens also denied claims by several of the former command staff members who contended that they had butted heads with the new sheriff, and had been purposely moved into lower-profile assignments.

“What were your feelings about those who were laid off?” Watkins asked.

“Nobody got laid off because they did anything wrong,” Hutchens said. “I’ve been in management for many, many years. I don’t get offended when someone disagrees with me.”

Attorney Joel Baruch, who is representing the former command staff members, pressed the sheriff to explain why several well-paid higher ups Hutchens hired shortly after she was appointed to lead the department were not let go during the lay-offs.

“You didn’t see this as an opportunity?” Baruch said.

“An opportunity for what?” Hutchens asked.

“To construct the command staff you wanted,” Baruch replied.

The trial has been delayed several times due to vacations and scheduling conflicts involving the judge, the attorneys and Hutchens. They were expected to decide by late Thursday what day the sheriff will continue her testimony.

Contact the writer: semery@ocregister.com