Facing 11 Felonies Gascon ‘Ethics Chief’ Pleads Not Guilty

Assistant Los Angeles County District Attorney Diana Teran pleaded not guilty Friday to eleven felony charges brought against her by state Attorney General Rob Bonta.

In April, Teran was charged by – now clearly former Los Angeles DA Gascon ally –  Rob Bonta, alleging she illegally used LA County Sheriff’s deputies personnel file information  while she worked in that department as a “Constitutional Policing Advisor” six years ago.

Each of the counts she was charged with bear the same April, 2021 date, which may be when she uploaded them in the DA’s office system and/or had them added to the office’s “Brady List,” a database of sketchy officers the office maintains.  Creating such a list – common practice across the nation – is meant to assist prosecutors in determining how trustworthy the officer may be as a witness, etc. Being on the list is a career killer for most officers and deputies and their presence on the list has to be made known to the defense.

The charges stem from Teran allegedly accessing personnel information while she worked in then-Sheriff Jim McDonnell’s office in 2018.  While that in and of itself was not a problem, her then relying on said information in 2021 to allegedly “update” the Brady List is.

In court Friday, Teran’s attorney James Spertus continued his previous line of defense, saying all of Teran’s actions were just part of her doing her job and not at all improper, let alone illegal.

Spertus has claimed the information was already public anyway, though the judge turned aside a press group request to turn over said personnel records.

He did add one little twist to the defense Friday, asking (according to published reports how “Is it a crime to do your job internally at the D.A.’s office for the county when you have information in your head?”

This is an interesting line of defense, to say the least: Basically, the idea is if you learn something when it’s okay to learn it, why can’t you use it any way you wish? Ironically, this is presumably the exact kind of questions Teran would have to consider as Gascon’s “Ethics and Integrity Assistant District Attorney” if it was brought to her by a deputy district attorney for consultation.

Teran’s current employment status was not discussed Friday. The Globe and a number of private individuals have filed public records requests demanding to know if she is still an active employee, if she still getting paid, and if the DA’s office is paying for her defense.

Teran’s preliminary hearing is set for August 7.