High-ranking advisor to L.A. DA Gascón hit with 11 felony charges

A high-ranking official in the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office is facing criminal charges filed by California’s state attorney general Wednesday, authorities announced.

Ethics and Integrity Assistant District Attorney Diana Teran, a top advisor to DA George Gascón, who oversees cases involving public corruption, fraud and police misconduct, has been charged with 11 felony violations.

“It is alleged Teran accessed computer data including numerous confidential peace officer files in 2018, while working as a Constitutional Policing Advisor at the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department, and, after joining LADA in January 2021, impermissibly used that data,” Attorney General Rob Bonta stated in a news release.

The confidential records, according to the criminal complaint filed in Los Angeles Superior Court, concern 11 sheriff’s deputies who are not named in the filing.

“No one is above the law,” Bonta said in the release. “Public officials are called to serve the people and the state of California with integrity and honesty.”

Teran’s attorney, James Spertus, told the Los Angeles Times that the case against his client is “dead on arrival,” and that the charges stem from his client “doing something within the scope of her employment.”

A lawyer for almost 40 years, Teran previously worked as deputy district attorney for L.A. County before moving into law enforcement oversight in 2018 as a constitutional policing advisor for the sheriff’s department. In 2019, she took a job with the L.A. County public defender’s office as a law enforcement accountability advisor.

Her attorney believes the investigation and charges were brought on by complaints made by former L.A. County Sheriff Alex Villanueva, who regularly sparred with those in oversight positions, and referred to the felony charges against Teran as a vindication of his administration, according to The Times.

It’s likely the charges against the ethics and integrity assistant DA are an unwanted distraction for Gascón as he works to get reelected.

A spokesperson for Gascón’s office declined to comment to The Times on Teran’s current employment status.

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