The head of the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office Ethics and Integrity Unit was charged Wednesday by the California Attorney General's Office -- with allegations she unlawfully accessed confidential files that contained legally-protected information about local law enforcement officers.
Diana Teran, an Assistant District Attorney and a member of DA George Gascón's leadership team, allegedly obtained the data while she was previously employed at the LA County Sheriff's Department, according to California Attorney General Rob Bonta's office.
“No one is above the law,” Bonta said in a prepared statement, and said public officials must serve with integrity and honesty.
The criminal complaint filed in LA Superior Court alleges the personnel files of 11 unnamed law enforcement officers were improperly accessed, and later, the Attorney General's Office said, Teran used that information, "impermissibly," after joining Gascón's team in 2021.
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At the DA's office, Teran was at one time part of a group of prosecutors tasked with examining resentencings, and it was unclear which of the cases she worked on might have involved the improperly-obtained information.
A spokeswoman for Gascón said although the office would not address specific personnel matters, it would “comply with any investigation from the Attorney General’s Office” and remained “committed to upholding transparency and ensuring police accountability within Los Angeles County.”
Teran was not immediately available for comment, and she was expected to turn herself in to authorities for processing. No court date had been set.
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The LA County Sheriff’s Department said it's cooperating fully with the California Department of Justice.
"The Department is concerned about any personnel data or files that are used in an unofficial capacity and will be conducting an internal review to ensure our employees’ information is secure and protected," it said.
One of the officers whose data is part of the Bonta case, a retired detective who asked to remain anonymous, told the I-Team Wednesday he was glad to see complaints about the misuse of his personnel information had been taken seriously and investigated.
"Reputations and careers were ruined," the detective said of some of the others whose files were taken.
Robert Pippin, president of the 8,000-member Association for Los Angeles County Deputy Sheriffs, the union that represents most deputies, said the charges were the latest example of “poor judgment and lack of leadership.”
“Promoting Teran to Assistant District Attorney, ironically in charge of ethics and integrity, even occurred despite legitimate objections from many experienced prosecutors,” Pippin wrote.
Those objections included Teran being paid by the Public Defender’s Office at the same time she worked for the DA’s Office and Teran suppressing a declination of a police officer’s abuse case to influence the 2022 LA County Sheriff’s race."
