LOS ANGELES, CA – An assistant district attorney, who also serves as a top advisor to Los Angeles County D.A. George Gascón, is reportedly facing several felony charges relating to her allegedly accessing confidential law enforcement personnel files and “impermissibly” utilizing the confidential files in her efforts at the D.A.’s office.
On April 24, California Attorney General Rob Bonta issued a press release regarding the charging of D.A. Gascón’s top advisor, A.D.A. Diana Teran, alleging the prosecutor exploited access to confidential law enforcement personnel files in a previous role in 2018 and used the unlawfully obtained data in her official capacity at the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office after joining the entity back in 2021.
A.G. Bonta noted in the press release, “No one is above the law. Public officials are called to serve the people and the State of California with integrity and honesty. At the California Department of Justice, we will continue to fight for the people of California and hold those who break the law accountable.”
According to the criminal complaint filed in the state’s superior court, Teran is facing eleven felony charges for violating Penal Code section 502(c)(2), which prohibits the use of data from a government computer system without authorization.
The specifics regarding the alleged criminal conduct of the prosecutor date back to 2018, when Teran was reportedly working at the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department (LASD) as a constitutional policing advisor. Through Teran’s role, she apparently was able to access the private personnel files of eleven unnamed sheriff’s deputies and allegedly used the aforesaid data unlawfully after joining the D.A.’s office three years later.
Investigators have seemingly had their eye on Teran for years regarding alleged unlawful access to law enforcement personnel files, years before she even joined the D.A.’s Office. Back in 2019, the LASD opened up an investigation into Teran and Inspector General Max Huntsman over purported unlawful access to confidential personnel files, as the watchdog outfit Teran was working at within the LASD had even allegedly poked around Sheriff Alex Villanueva’s confidential files.
Huntsman office at the time the 2019 investigation was launched claimed no wrongdoing, asserting his office was allowed to access the aforesaid sort of records due to an existing country ordinance. However, even if Teran’s initial access to these confidential records were lawful in her former official capacity, the current allegations of holding onto these confidential records and using them in her role at the D.A.’s office is conduct that would seemingly run afoul of the statute outlined in the charging document.
While D.A. Gascón noted in a statement that he “cannot comment on specific personnel matters” regarding the charges brought against his top advisor, he seemingly defended the alleged criminal conduct of Teran when mentioning how his office “developed a protocol” to ensure criminal defendants gain access to “exculpatory evidence” which would include the likes of “law enforcement's prior misconduct.”
“When I took office," he said, "we developed a protocol that ensured we complied with our constitutional obligations under Brady - which requires us to turn over potentially exculpatory evidence to the defense, a category that includes law enforcement's prior misconduct - while simultaneously complying with state and federal law around privacy. I stand by that protocol.”
James Spertus, the attorney representing Teran in this case, claimed the case against his client is “dead on arrival” as the defense is prepared to argue what Teran was doing was “within the scope of her employment.” Essentially, due to Teran’s past work at the D.A.’s office as the head of the Justice System Integrity Division, which specializes in prosecuting law enforcement officers and attorneys, Teran’s attorney believes that she has a “duty” to potentially illegally obtain confidential records of law enforcement officers to aid in prosecuting them for various offenses.
While the specific contents of the data Teran allegedly illegally obtained isn’t clear, aside from them pertaining to unnamed LASD deputies, Teran’s attorney further claims all she was doing was helping “build out the Brady database” in accordance with California’s SB 1421 which went into effect in January of 2019.
However, even if the contents of the data obtained could’ve fallen under the scope of information warranted under Brady list disclosure via SB 1421, the initial breach of the data dates back to 2018, prior to the aforesaid senate bill going into effect.
Meanwhile, Sheriff Villanueva has called the indictment of D.A. Gascón’s top advisor “a vindication of my administration,” and believes that “further indictments” of L.A. County elected officials will commence in the future under A.G. Bonta’s ongoing investigations into public corruption.
On April 24, California Attorney General Rob Bonta issued a press release regarding the charging of D.A. Gascón’s top advisor, A.D.A. Diana Teran, alleging the prosecutor exploited access to confidential law enforcement personnel files in a previous role in 2018 and used the unlawfully obtained data in her official capacity at the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office after joining the entity back in 2021.
A.G. Bonta noted in the press release, “No one is above the law. Public officials are called to serve the people and the State of California with integrity and honesty. At the California Department of Justice, we will continue to fight for the people of California and hold those who break the law accountable.”
According to the criminal complaint filed in the state’s superior court, Teran is facing eleven felony charges for violating Penal Code section 502(c)(2), which prohibits the use of data from a government computer system without authorization.
The specifics regarding the alleged criminal conduct of the prosecutor date back to 2018, when Teran was reportedly working at the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department (LASD) as a constitutional policing advisor. Through Teran’s role, she apparently was able to access the private personnel files of eleven unnamed sheriff’s deputies and allegedly used the aforesaid data unlawfully after joining the D.A.’s office three years later.
Investigators have seemingly had their eye on Teran for years regarding alleged unlawful access to law enforcement personnel files, years before she even joined the D.A.’s Office. Back in 2019, the LASD opened up an investigation into Teran and Inspector General Max Huntsman over purported unlawful access to confidential personnel files, as the watchdog outfit Teran was working at within the LASD had even allegedly poked around Sheriff Alex Villanueva’s confidential files.
Huntsman office at the time the 2019 investigation was launched claimed no wrongdoing, asserting his office was allowed to access the aforesaid sort of records due to an existing country ordinance. However, even if Teran’s initial access to these confidential records were lawful in her former official capacity, the current allegations of holding onto these confidential records and using them in her role at the D.A.’s office is conduct that would seemingly run afoul of the statute outlined in the charging document.
While D.A. Gascón noted in a statement that he “cannot comment on specific personnel matters” regarding the charges brought against his top advisor, he seemingly defended the alleged criminal conduct of Teran when mentioning how his office “developed a protocol” to ensure criminal defendants gain access to “exculpatory evidence” which would include the likes of “law enforcement's prior misconduct.”
“When I took office," he said, "we developed a protocol that ensured we complied with our constitutional obligations under Brady - which requires us to turn over potentially exculpatory evidence to the defense, a category that includes law enforcement's prior misconduct - while simultaneously complying with state and federal law around privacy. I stand by that protocol.”
James Spertus, the attorney representing Teran in this case, claimed the case against his client is “dead on arrival” as the defense is prepared to argue what Teran was doing was “within the scope of her employment.” Essentially, due to Teran’s past work at the D.A.’s office as the head of the Justice System Integrity Division, which specializes in prosecuting law enforcement officers and attorneys, Teran’s attorney believes that she has a “duty” to potentially illegally obtain confidential records of law enforcement officers to aid in prosecuting them for various offenses.
While the specific contents of the data Teran allegedly illegally obtained isn’t clear, aside from them pertaining to unnamed LASD deputies, Teran’s attorney further claims all she was doing was helping “build out the Brady database” in accordance with California’s SB 1421 which went into effect in January of 2019.
However, even if the contents of the data obtained could’ve fallen under the scope of information warranted under Brady list disclosure via SB 1421, the initial breach of the data dates back to 2018, prior to the aforesaid senate bill going into effect.
Meanwhile, Sheriff Villanueva has called the indictment of D.A. Gascón’s top advisor “a vindication of my administration,” and believes that “further indictments” of L.A. County elected officials will commence in the future under A.G. Bonta’s ongoing investigations into public corruption.
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Comments
2024-04-27T11:15-0400 | Comment by: DS
REAPING WHAT THEY SOW.
2024-04-27T21:23-0400 | Comment by: C
Managing Editor of RedState, Jennifer Van Laar was the first to report on this; please give her credit. Thank you.
2024-04-29T11:11-0400 | Comment by: thomas
They love to prosecute law enforcement.