Charges against Gascón deputy are political, lawyer says

California Attorney General Rob Bonta's decision to press criminal charges against Los Angeles County Deputy District Attorney Diana Teran was dismissed as a "reckless" move by Teran's attorney, who linked the charges to a long running political campaign orchestrated by former Los Angeles County Sheriff Alex Villanueva.

Bonta charged Teran with 11 felonies for alleged misuse of government data. A felony complaint for arrest warrant filed in L.A. County Superior Court shows that the confidential records involve 11 sheriff's deputies. The complaint does not include their names. People of the State of California v Diana Maria Teran, 24CJCF02649 (L.A. Super. Ct. filed April 24, 2024)

According to a Wednesday news release from Bonta's office, the charges against Teran date back to 2018 when she was Constitutional Policing Advisor at the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department.

Bonta claimed Teran "accessed computer data including numerous confidential peace officer files," and then "impermissibly used that data" at the District Attorney's office in 2021. Each charge of breaching California Penal Code 502(c)(2) comes with a potential sentence of one to three years of incarceration and a fine of $5,000.

The complaint does not provide details of the alleged unlawful record access. Teran's attorney, James W. Spertus, linked Teran's use of the records to the maintenance of a Brady List - a database of law enforcement officers accused of misconduct - in the DA's office. He argued that the documents in question were public records, and that they had been used in an official capacity, meaning Teran's actions were compliant with the law.

"The charges are defective on their face and will be dismissed as soon as a court reviews them. Every document underlying the charges was a public record taken either from court files or made public by California Senate Bill 1421," Spertus wrote in an email.

"Regardless, Ms. Teran's official duties at the DA's office was to oversee the DA's internal database of officer misconduct findings to ensure compliance with the DA's constitutional obligations under Brady, and a person cannot be charged with a crime for fulfilling an official duty," he wrote.

"The statute charged expressly exempts data "used" within the scope of employment," he added.

Spertus added that that the fact the alleged actions took place in 2018 also meant they fell outside the statute of limitations.

In a subsequent telephone interview, Spertus said the charges were the result of a continued campaign by former Los Angeles Sheriff Alex Villanueva against his client. Villanueva is believed to have been the one who alerted Bonta's office to Teran's alleged wrongdoing in 2019.

"What's tough is that Villanueva is championing the actions of the AG and filing these charges against a criminal. It's just preposterous. She didn't take anything. They were public documents uploaded into a database from public sources, and she was doing it as an official act as part of her job. So, this case is crazy on many different levels," he said.

He added that "Villanueva was very publicly targeting those involved in law enforcement oversight. And that was very public back in 2019. He called everybody who's in the internal affairs unit and Ms. Teran and constitutional policing employees, he called them all criminals. And I think he called the Board of Supervisors criminals."

Spertus described Attorney General Rob Bonta's decision to file charges as "reckless."

"He's [Villanueva] complaining of a crime, I would just expect more from an attorney general charged with prosecuting crime. I think this is just a Sheriff Villanueva temporary vindication until the cases are dismissed. And I don't know why," Spertus said.

He added that Bonta is "a public official who has duties that I think require diligence before charges are filed. And I question the diligence of filing this case, it's just, you know, hard to explain."

When contacted for comment Bonta's office referred the Daily Journal to his previously issued press release. Attempts to contact Villanueva were not successful. Villanueva lost his bid for reelection in 2022.

Teran most recently occupied the role of assistant district attorney of Ethics & Integrity Operations in Los Angeles County District Attorney George Gascón's office, where she oversaw cases involving public corruption and police misconduct. She is also a former deputy public defender.

On Thursday morning it was unclear whether Teran remained employed in Gascón's office.

Spertus said: "I wouldn't be surprised if she's temporarily put on administrative leave while this is sorted out. I mean, that would be routine." He added that "she's employed today, of course, and there'll be no termination of her if... she's not convicted of felonies."

When contacted for comment, the DA's office said, "We cannot comment on personnel actions, but can confirm that we've filled the role previously occupied by Ms. Teran with someone else."

In a written statement, Gascón stood by his office's protocols surrounding the Brady database.

"When I took office, 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," Gascón stated.

He added that his office "will comply with any investigation from the Attorney General's Office."

Gascón is facing a challenge from Nathan Hochman in this year's district attorney race. In a telephone interview Hochman dismissed suggestions that Bonta's decision to charge Teran was driven by pressure from Villanueva, noting the close political ideology of Bonta and Gascón.

"The complaint was not filed by Alex Villanueva, [it] wasn't filed by any detractor, arguably, towards George Gascón or Diana Teran. It was filed by Rob Bonta, the current attorney general of California. And Rob Bonta, as you probably know, was a big supporter, one of the biggest supporters, of George Gascón back in 2020," Hochman said.

"I would imagine that they have rock solid evidence because this is the opposite of a political witch hunt. This is a political ally of Georgia Gascón, filing these very serious charges against a member of his senior leadership, the number three person in the DA's office," he added.

Hochman dismissed Spertus' argument that Teran's actions were lawful.

"These aren't new arguments that Mr. Spertus has made... based on what I've heard him say is that he raised these exact arguments with the Attorney General's office, and they rejected them, presumably by filing this criminal complaint," Hochman said.

He called for Gascón to disclose when he became of the investigation of Teran's conduct and whether this knowledge preceded his decision to promote Teran to assistant DA in January.

Contacted for comment, the State Bar said it could not confirm whether Teran would face a disciplinary investigation because of her alleged conduct. Bar investigations are confidential, unless confidentiality is waived pursuant to the provisions of Business and Professions Code section 6086.1(b) or (c).

"We can share that the State Bar will be placing a Consumer Alert on the subject's attorney profile, alerting the public that felony charges have been lodged against this attorney," State Bar spokesperson Rick Coca wrote.