A witness subpoenaed in the Civilian Oversight Commission's investigative hearings on deputy gangs was ordered by the Sheriff's Department not to testify.
Los Angeles County Sheriff Alex Villanueva and other department officials tried to prevent a key witness from testifying before an oversight panel about gang-like groups of deputies, according to a new lawsuit.
The alleged attempt to stop Chow from testifying was too late, however. Kusayanagi called Chow 18 minutes before he was scheduled to testify, and Chow did not answer, the lawsuit said. When Chow called back after his appearance at the hearing, Kusayanagi was unaware that he had already testified and launched into an explanation of why he shouldn’t, the lawsuit says.
Chow’s allegations and the department’s denials are unfolding amid a legal skirmish over the Civilian Oversight Commission’s authority to subpoena sheriff’s employees. Both Villanueva and Murakami have refused to comply with subpoenas ordering them to appear before the commission. Villanueva has said the commission’s efforts amount to a “fake court hearing” and “fake trial” designed to hurt his chances at reelection in November.into an alleged assault in 2018 by deputies suspected of belonging to the Banditos, a group at the East L.A. sheriff’s station, Chow was an important witness in the commission’s probe.
The order not to ask questions about the Banditos came down from Matt Burson, a chief in the department who has since retired. Burson testified in front of the commission at a hearing in July and, under oath, said that he, in turn, had been directed by Villanueva’s chief of staff, on behalf of the sheriff, to steer the investigation away from the Banditos.
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