Some charges dropped against LA County district attorney – NBC Los Angeles

A Los Angeles Superior Court judge ruled Tuesday that there was enough evidence to send Los Angeles Assistant District Attorney Diana Teran to a jury trial on charges of misusing confidential and proprietary law enforcement information. However, the judge also agreed with some of the defense's arguments and dismissed two counts at the end of the preliminary hearing.

Teran was a member of District Attorney George Gascón's leadership team and headed the District Attorney's Office's Ethics and Integrity Division when the case was filed earlier this year.

The California Department of Justice initially filed eleven charges against Teran, accusing her of copying or using computer data without authorization.

At the heart of the case are allegations that Teran, during his previous employment with the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department, accessed personnel files containing records of officer misconduct – information that is protected under California's laws and is not made public. Years later, he is alleged to have improperly turned over some of those files to the district attorney's office, which maintains a registry of police officers with problematic pasts.

“I respect the court's decision, but I am disappointed with the verdict,” Teran's defense attorney Jim Spertus said Tuesday.

Spertus argued during the preliminary hearing that even if some of the documents in question could be found in the officers' protected personnel files, the same information had already been disclosed in nearly identical court filings. Spertus explained to Judge Sam Ohta that these officers had abandoned some of their special duty of secrecy as police officers when they fought disciplinary action in court.

“When you make the transition from the disciplinary power of the civil service to the court, you waive the right to confidentiality, and you certainly do, because you have made it available to the public,” Spertus said during the hearing.

The Justice Department dismissed three of the 11 charges just before the preliminary hearing began, and Judge Ohta dismissed two more on Tuesday, leaving Teran with six charges remaining to face in court.

The Justice Department's press office did not respond to requests for information, documents or comment on the Teran case in recent weeks, but released a statement from Attorney General Rob Bonta when the charges were first announced, saying, “No one is above the law.”

A spokeswoman for Gascón said earlier this year that the office would not address specific personnel matters and that it would “comply with any investigation by the Attorney General's Office” and remain “committed to maintaining transparency and ensuring police accountability in Los Angeles County.”