By Andrea Bernal
LOS ANGELES, CA – The Prosecutors Alliance this week called the prosecution of former prosecutor Diana Teran “deeply problematic” after Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge Sam Ohta made the decision to allow six of the 11 felony charges against Teran to go to trial.
According to the Los Angeles Times, Teran is a former Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department advisor “who later oversaw ethics and integrity operations at the D.A.’s office,” who is accused of illegally using confidential personnel records.
Additionally, wrote the L.A. Times, state prosecutors alleged Teran “broke the law three years ago when she flagged several sheriff’s deputies’ names for possible inclusion on an internal district attorney’s database of officers accused of misconduct.”
Charges were filed against Teran in late April by California Attorney General who alleged Teran “misused records she accessed while working at the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department once she was employed at the L.A. County District Attorney’s office,” said CBS News,
CBS News added Teran had obtained files in 2018 while working at the Sheriff’s department where she “advised department officials on personnel investigations and disciplinary actions regarding issues such as in-custody deaths and police shootings.”
In July, per the L.A. Times article, Teran pleaded not guilty on all counts because her lawyer, James Spertus, stated the deputies’ records were already public in court cases and other records.
Cristine Soto DeBerry, Executive Director of Prosecutors Alliance, issued Tuesday’s statement regarding Judge Sam Ohta’s decision to allow six of the charges against Teran to go to trial.
DeBerry recalls how the case against Teran “went from 11 charges to eight and is now down to six after Judge Ohta dismissed two more charges today.” She continues, “With each step of the legal process, the case against her is unraveling, as it should.”
“The deeply problematic charges brought against ADA Teran seek to penalize a public servant for fulfilling her ethical duty to ensure transparency and uphold the Constitution, all in the name of shielding police misconduct behind a veil of secrecy,” added DeBerry.
“The burden of proof in a preliminary hearing is much lower than at trial, and we expect that ADA Teran will be acquitted when a jury of her peers hears what she was doing to advance justice, accountability, and the rule of law,” DeBerry added.
