(NewsWorthy.news) – The top advisor to the district attorney in Los Angeles County has been charged with more than 10 felonies related to ethics violations.
Ironically, Diana Teran was previously head of the City of Angels’ ethics and integrity unit inside the DA’s office and the go-to prosecutor for District Attorney George Gascon. But following a detailed investigation, she has been charged with 11 felonies connected to her involvement in misusing confidential information.
Teran has been accused of accessing such information about 11 deputies when she worked at the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department—and then taking the details with her when she moved on to work for the district attorney. Her criminal activity reportedly started in 2018.
Her new boss, Attorney General Gascon, won his seat in the office by promoting anti-police sentiment. Teran “impermissibly” used the information gathered from the sheriff’s office to further the work of Gascon’s office. Some of the suspected uses of the data include helping criminals on the defense and against line prosecutors who were below her in rank.
One source told the media that the case was handed over to the state’s office of the attorney general, citing a conflict of interest. This development pointed to the possibility that Teran was still running the Los Angeles ethics and integrity unit in the DA’s office for several months, even as she was being investigated for misconduct. This allowed her to scrutinize public officials, including police, for their own allegations of misconduct.
Deputy district attorney Tatiana Chahoian has also said that Teran “illegitimately accessed” confidential information in the files of police officers while working at the department, then “used” it “against the officers” while at the DA’s office. At one point during her tenure, Teran allegedly kept a whole case file and video footage from Chahoian and the rest of the DA’s office for a case the deputy district attorney was prosecuting.
On Saturday April 27, Teran turned herself in to local law enforcement and was later released on a bond of $50,000.
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