A Los Angeles attorney and ethics advisor to county District Attorney George Gascón has been charged by the state Attorney General’s Office with 11 felonies involving the unauthorized use of sensitive peace officer files.
A felony arrest warrant for Diana Maria Teran, the assistant district attorney for ethics and integrity, was issued on April 24 by Los Angeles County Superior Court. Teran was booked and subsequently released from jail this past weekend, according to media reports.
The felony complaint released by state Attorney General Rob Bonta’s office accuses Teran of 11 counts of accessing, using or copying computer data relating to sheriff’s deputies without permission in 2021. The charges filed against Teran have become fodder in the fall election runoff pitting Gascón and former federal prosecutor Nathan Hochman.
Bonta’s office has alleged that Teran accessed numerous confidential peace office files in 2018 while serving as a constitutional policing advisor for the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department. All of the counts in last month’s felony warrant, however, related only to alleged computer access violations in 2021. Teran impermissibly used the data after she joined the District Attorney’s Office in January 2021, according to Bonta’s office.
There was no indication why the felony charges were filed three years after they allegedly took place.
“No one is above the law,” Bonta said in a prepared statement. “Public officials are called to serve the people and the state of California with integrity and honesty. At the California Department of Justice, we will continue to fight for the people of California and hold those who break the law accountable.”
The California State Bar’s attorney listing indicates that Teran’s law license is active. But it also says the attorney has been charged with a felony that is pending in Los Angeles County Superior Court. Teran was admitted to the State Bar in December of 1988.
In a comment emailed to the Southern California Record, Gascón said that although he could not comment on specific personnel matters, he would cooperate with the attorney general’s investigation.
“I remain committed to upholding transparency and ensuring police accountability within Los Angeles County,” he said. “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.”
The District Attorney’s Office developed a protocol when Gascón took office to fulfill its obligations under what’s called the Brady rule, he said.
“(The Brady rule) 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,” Gascón said. “I stand by that protocol.”
The rule grew out of a U.S. Supreme Court case, Brady v. Maryland, in 1963.
On X, D.A. candidate Hochman asked, “Who is going to review the filing decisions Teran made that went against the recommendations of career D.A.s in the Justice System Integrity Division? Her lack of judgment and her bias against law enforcement have been exposed.”
Teran supervised at least 20 special units, such as those concerned with conviction review and organized crime, as well as the Public Integrity Division, according to Ryan Erlich, vice president of the Association of Deputy District Attorneys, the bargaining unit representing more than 750 prosecutors working for Los Angeles County.