Judge accuses L.A. County counsel of conflict in force-record lawsuit
Superior Court Judge Jerrold Abeles said the county’s legal office has an obvious conflict of interest for blocking the Civilian Oversight Commission’s request for use-of-force records.
Judge Jerrold Abeles issued a five-page tentative decision calling the Los Angeles County counsel’s refusal to turn over use-of-force records an "obvious conflict of interest" and a breach of attorney ethics. The ruling targets the county’s resistance to the L.A. County Sheriff Civilian Oversight Commission’s subpoenas for documents related to three incidents from 2020 and 2023.
A hearing is scheduled for Sept. 17 to determine if independent counsel should represent the commission. County counsel’s outside attorney, Mira Hashmall of Miller Barondess, argues that no conflict exists and that the county has acted within longstanding law. The commission, empowered by a 2020 voter initiative and a new state law, maintains that the subpoenas must be honored, while the sheriff’s department continues to withhold the unredacted files.
Why it matters
The case could shape how oversight bodies obtain police records and test county legal ethics.
In this story
