Los Angeles County’s Hall of Justice, the administrative headquarters of both the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s office, and the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department. (Matt Tinoco/LA Public Press)
Petition for Writ of Prohibition
The IPAT Clinic’s Press Freedom Project won the disclosure of court records during the summer of 2024 in the controversial criminal prosecution of a deputy Los Angeles district attorney, Diana Teran.
The Project’s Adjunct Professor Susan E. Seager, assisted by UC Irvine law student Jake Bulf, filed a successful motion to unseal an affidavit and another successful motion to unseal a series of court exhibits in Los Angeles Superior Court on behalf of our client the Los Angeles Public Press, an independent news website reporting about Los Angeles. The Los Angeles Times joined the second unsealing request. The two news organizations argued that the First Amendment required the court records to be open to the public so the public could monitor the case.
Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge Mary Lou Villar ordered the unsealing of an investigator’s affidavit in June 2024 and Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Sam Ohta ordered the unsealing of court exhibits on August 20, 2024. The Court of Appeal rejected the prosecutors’ emergency request to block the unsealing on September 13, 2024. See Teran – Court of Appeal 9 13 24 Order.
The unsealed exhibits undermine Attorney General Rob Bonta’s allegation that Teran allegedly “hacked” confidential disciplinary records several Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department deputies to research their possible misconduct. In fact, the records reveal that the records used by Teran are actually copies of public court records filed in the Los Angeles Superior Court civil courthouse after the deputies filed legal challenges to their discipline.
The Project’s work was featured in a major story in the Los Angeles Times, in which Press Freedom Project director Professor Susan Seager was quoted:
“This just shows how Atty. Gen. Rob Bonta has wasted the time of several Los Angeles judges by asking them to keep these court records secret,” said Susan Seager, the UC Irvine law professor who has been fighting on behalf of the L.A. Public Press for the release of the deputies’ names since May. “Anyone can go to the Los Angeles Superior Courthouse today and find all the deputy lawsuits challenging their discipline and post them online. What happens in our public courts belongs to the public.”
While this is an important victory for transparency and accountability, the case is not over. We are still fighting to unseal other court records in the case.
Read the full L.A. Public Press story here: Judge unseals DOJ affidavit in Diana Teran case after LA Public Press motion
As the L.A. Times reported:
One deputy was convicted of driving drunk with a loaded gun in the car. Another was suspended for failing to promptly report an on-duty traffic accident. An experienced detective was accused of lying on his job application. And a commander was demoted to captain for turning a blind eye to a cheating scandal in a popular law enforcement relay race.
For five months, California Atty. Gen. Rob Bonta’s office has fought to keep secret the names of eight Los Angeles County sheriff’s deputies at the center of the case against Diana Teran, a top district attorney’s office advisor accused of misusing confidential personnel records as part of an effort to track cops with disciplinary histories. She is now facing six felony charges under what legal experts say is a “novel” use of the state’s hacking statute.
Courtroom testimony during a preliminary hearing last month showed that the allegedly confidential records in question were actually court records. But state prosecutors still fought to hide the deputies’ names and the details of their past behavior by redacting identifying portions of key documents in the case.”
Read the full L.A. Times story here: Spotty redactions and public records reveal names of deputies in case against D.A. advisor.
Here is the Press Freedom’s motion to unseal the court exhibits (an ex parte application, actually).
UPDATE:
Court of Appeal Issues OSC for Dismissal of Case
In an extraordinary move, the California Court of Appeal, Second District, has agreed to hear Teran’s emergency legal challenge to her prosecution — before her trial! Here is the court’s December 23, 2024 order:
“GOOD CAUSE APPEARING THEREFOR, you are ordered to show cause before this court in its courtroom at 300 South Spring Street, Los Angeles, California 90013, on April 2, 2025, why the relief prayed for in the petition for writ of prohibition should not be granted. “
Here is Teran’s writ petition (Petition for Writ of Prohibition); the DOJ’s brief (AG Return to Order to Show Cause); and Teran’s reply brief (Teran Reply in Response to Return to OSC).
Oral argument is set for April 2, 2025 at 1:30 p.m.
Court of Appeal unseals news articles wrongly sealed by LA trial court judge.
In a vindication for the public’s right to access court records, the Court of Appeal, on its own motion, issued an order on Nov. 8, 2024 stating it would unseal some newspaper articles sealed by a Los Angeles Superior Court judge in violation of court sealing rules: “The court advises the parties, pursuant to California Rules of Court, rule 8.46(f)(3), that it proposes to unseal Exhibits D33 and D34 (appendix pages 1141-1188) in this matter that were ordered sealed by the trial court. No adequate legal basis for sealing published news articles appears to exist.”
The Press Freedom Project had asked Los Angeles County Judge Charlaine F. Olmedo to unseal some news articles filed as exhibits, but she rejected our request on July 25, 2024.
Amicus Briefs in the Court of Appeal
The Court of Appeal accepted two amicus briefs and rejected several others.
Accepted:
“The Amended Request for Permission to File Amicus Curiae Brief of Law School Professors in support of petitioner Diana Maria Teran’s petition is granted. The Clerk is ordered to file the amicus brief that was submitted with the Amended Request on February 19, 2025.” See Law Professor Amicus.
“The application by the Office of the District Attorney of Los Angeles County in support of Real Party in Interest is granted. The Clerk is ordered to file the amicus brief that was submitted with the application on February 18, 2025.” See LA District Attorneys Office Amicus.
Denied:
“The application submitted on February 4, 2025, by the Los Angeles County Public Defender for leave to file an amicus curiae brief in support of petitioner Diana Maria Teran is denied.”
“The application submitted on February 18, 2025, by the Civilian Oversight Commission for Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department for leave to file an amicus curiae brief in support of petitioner Diana Maria Teran is denied.” See Civilian Oversight Commission Proposed Amicus
“The application submitted on February 18, 2025, by the ACLU Foundation of Southern California, et al. for leave to file an amici curiae brief in support of petitioner Diana Maria Teran is denied.” See ACLU Proposed Amicus.
“The amended request submitted on February 19, 2025, by the California Public Defender’s Association, et al. for leave to file an amici curiae brief in support of petitioner Diana Maria Teran is denied.” See Calif Pub Defs Assn & Cal Attnys for Crim Justice Proposed Amicus.
“The application submitted on February 19, 2025, by Law Professors Engaged in Civilian Oversight for leave to file an amicus curiae brief in support of petitioner Diana Maria Teran is denied.” See Law Profs Engaged in Civilian Oversight Proposed Amicus.
“The application submitted on February 19, 2025, by Fair and Just Prosecution, et al. for leave to file an amici curiae brief in support of petitioner Diana Maria Teran is denied.”