Judge slams county's 'obvious conflict of interest' in suit seeking use-of-force records

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Set us as preferred A Los Angeles County Superior Court judge is calling on the county to show that it is acting ethically and professionally in a lawsuit by the L.A.County Sheriff Civilian Oversight Commission seeking Sheriff’s Department records related to three use-of-force incidents.In a five-page tentative ruling on Aug.

24, Judge Jerrold Abeles criticized an “obvious conflict of interest” and “a shocking breach of an attorney’s ethical duties to a client” — namely the oversight body — by the county counsel’s office.The following day, the court set a Sept.

17 date for a hearing on an order to show cause “regarding whether the County Counsel has a conflict of interest, and should be ordered to appoint independent counsel for the” Civilian Oversight Commission.On Friday, outside counsel for the county responded in a court filing, writing that “no conflict exists” and that it and the county counsel “have acted appropriately at all times and consistent with long-standing law.”In February 2025, the Civilian Oversight Commission issued three subpoenas against the L.A.County Sheriff’s Department for personnel records and other documents associated with an on-duty shooting and two beatings by sheriff’s deputies.The Sheriff’s Department has declined to release the unredacted records.

The county counsel has argued that they can’t be handed over because they are confidential, and that a “meet and confer” process between the county and Sheriff’s Department unions must be completed before the documents can be provided.The Civilian Oversight Commission has said that such assertions are unfounded, and that state law and court precedent require its subpoenas to be upheld.In June, the oversight body filed the lawsuit against the Sheriff’s Department asking for a judge to order the release ...