(IntegrityTimes.com) -The California Department of Justice recently indicted the Los Angeles County assistant district attorney Diana Teran on 11 felonies after a lengthy investigation revealed that she used her position to access and manipulate “confidential, statutorily protected peace officer files.” Teran accessed the data while working at the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department in 2018, and then subsequently sourced the data after she began working for the District Attorney’s Office in 2021.
Several sources provided shocking information to one media outlet, including Teran’s alleged withholding of exculpatory evidence that led to the firing of deputies who would have otherwise been exonerated. The outlet noted that every case handled by the terminated deputies could have been tainted because of the incorrect information in their personnel records. She was also allegedly directed by Inspector General Max Huntsman to access and download more personnel files using an external hard drive just days before Sheriff Alex Villanueva was sworn into office in 2018.
One of the personnel files that she was allegedly asked to download was that of Villanueva and other sheriff’s office employees who backed him for the position. She began working at the Office of Inspector General (OIG) and the Public Defender’s Office of Los Angeles County before she began working at the District Attorney’s Office. She allegedly uploaded some of the unlawfully accessed files to the Public Defender’s database. Villanueva launched an investigation into Teran and Huntsman after discovering that the files were taken, but Huntsman attempted to thwart the effort by teaming up with anti-police members of the county’s Board of Supervisors.
Teran also is suspected of using the personnel file of one deputy to file domestic violence charges against him while working at the DA’s office. She also allegedly uploaded the files to the DA’s database. She went on to lead District Attorney George Gascon’s reinvestigation into officer-involved incidents that took place during DA Jackie Lacey’s tenure. Gascon was allegedly present as she uploaded the files.
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