Los Angeles County Sheriff Robert Luna sued the county’s Civilian Oversight Commission this week, asking the court to decide whether or not his department should answer three subpoenas requesting records on controversial deputy misconduct and use-of-force cases.
A response to the subpoenas was due Thursday morning, March 20, ahead of a commission meeting, but Luna told commissioners that the county’s lawyers advised the Sheriff’s Department not to complete the request. Luna felt that releasing some of the records requested in the subpoenas would violate state laws that protect most police personnel records, according to the lawsuit.
“This complaint is not intended to cause division between County Departments, but rather to gain clear guidance on the complex legal issues surrounding what can and cannot be disclosed to the COC moving forward,” the Sheriff’s Department said in a statement. “Without judicial clarification on this long-running disagreement, the Department risks potential criminal charges, civil liability, and erosion of public trust.”
At a commission meeting Thursday, Luna said lawyers with the county advised his department not to send a custodian of records to the meeting, as was requested in several subpoenas related to cases in which deputies shot or beat young men.
“As a former federal judge and a person who’s practiced law for many years, I find this extraordinary and, frankly, disrespectful to this commission and not lawful,” said commission Chair Robert Bonner. “They needed to provide a custodian of records, and they thumbed their nose at us and said ‘we’re not going to do that.’”
The commission subpoenaed the department only after their requests for voluntary disclosure of the information was denied, Bonner said. He and the seven other commissioners voted unanimously to push to enforce the three subpoenas and work with county counsel to either be represented by county lawyers or find outside counsel to respond to Luna’s suit by the 30-day deadline.
Commissioners have received few documents and redacted materials related to investigations of use of force cases, like anyone would receive if they filed a public records request, Bonner said.
Through the subpoenas, the commission is seeking investigative materials related to the deputy killing of 18-year-old Andres Guardado in 2020. A deputy fatally shot Guardado in the back, and both deputies involved were sentenced to federal prison for violating Guardado’s civil rights.
Commissioners also subpoenaed records in the case of Emmett Brock, a transgender man who was beaten by Deputy Joseph Benza III in a 7-Eleven parking lot in 2023 because Brock allegedly flipped him off. Benza agreed to plead guilty to a felony civil rights offense earlier this year.
The final subpoena seeks records in the beating of Joseph Perez by Industry sheriff’s deputies, which was deemed within the department’s use of force policy.