A Los Angeles County assistant district attorney who was in charge of ethics and integrity operations for the office pleaded not guilty Thursday to felony charges for alleged repeated and unauthorized use of data from confidential peace officer files.
Diana Teran was charged April 24 by the California Department of Justice with 11 felony counts prohibiting the use of data from a government computer system without permission, according to a statement released by the state Attorney General's Office.
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Teran allegedly accessed computer data, including numerous confidential peace officer files, in 2018 while working as a constitutional policing adviser at the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department and impermissibly used that data at the District Attorney's Office after going to work there in January 2021, according to the Attorney General's Office.
"No one is above the law," Attorney General Rob Bonta said in the statement. "Public officials are called to serve the people and the state of California with integrity and honesty."
Teran -- whose challenge involving the legal sufficiency of the criminal complaint was rejected Thursday by Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge Charlaine F. Olmedo -- is due back in a downtown Los Angeles courtroom Aug. 7. A hearing is set then to determine whether there is sufficient evidence to allow the case against her to proceed to trial.
Teran's attorney, James Spertus, questioned whether it was a crime for his client to do her job. He told reporters outside court that he is "absolutely" hopeful that the case against her will be dismissed next month.
The Los Angeles Times reported earlier this month that the District Attorney's Office has said Teran is no longer in the role of assistant district attorney over ethics and integrity operations.
Shortly after the case against Teran was filed, L.A. County District Attorney George Gascón said in a statement, "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."
"While we cannot comment on specific personnel matters, we will comply with any investigation from the Attorney General's Office," Gascon said then. "I remain committed to upholding transparency and ensuring police accountability within Los Angeles County. These principles are paramount to the integrity of our work and the trust of the community we serve. We will address this matter with the utmost seriousness and diligence to uphold the values of justice and fairness."
In 2019, then-Los Angeles County Undersheriff Tim Murakami said the agency was investigating Teran along with Inspector General Max Huntsman for allegedly accessing confidential personnel files of high-ranking sheriff's executives, including then-Sheriff Alex Villanueva.
Murakami told ABC7 at the time that Teran had downloaded the confidential personnel records on behalf of the Inspector General's Office a few days before Villanueva was sworn into office in late 2018.
Huntsman at the time denied any wrongdoing, insisting that a county ordinance afforded his office access to county employee records, and that his office kept such records confidential.
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