"This old story is about the relationship between the judge who signed the Kuehl warrant served today and the lead investigator of the sheriff’s public corruption unit"
How a dispute over dog droppings put a celebrated homicide detective and a judge under scrutiny
https://www.latimes.com/local/california/la-me-sheriff-detective-judge-investigation-11192016-story.html
No paywall:
https://archive.ph/khhdV
Nov 25 2016
In late 2013, however, Mark Lillienfeld’s focus was on a subject far from his usual beat: a middle-aged San Fernando Valley housekeeper named Connie Romero.
Lillienfeld scoured Romero’s past for any criminal history, tracked down her personal details and ran her name through confidential databases, according to law enforcement records reviewed by The Times. One evening, he drove to her Porter Ranch home and poked through a Dumpster, the records say.
But Romero was no killer. Rather, prosecutors considered her the victim of a crime.
She had, in fact, suffered bruises and cuts to her face during a confrontation over dog poop months earlier in a Chatsworth neighborhood. The case was investigated by the Los Angeles Police Department, not Lillienfeld’s agency. A battery charge had been filed against one of Lillienfeld’s longtime acquaintances, another veteran of the county’s justice system: Superior Court Judge Craig Richman.
L.A. County sheriff’s unit accused of targeting political enemies, vocal critics
https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2021-09-23/sheriff-alex-villanueva-secret-police
https://archive.ph/3u5lV
Sept 23 2021
The unit, named the Civil Rights and Public Integrity Detail, has pursued a long-running investigation into one of Villanueva’s most vocal critics, L.A. County Inspector General Max Huntsman, and others despite sheriff’s officials being told by the FBI and state law enforcement officials that it appeared no crimes had been committed, a senior sheriff’s official said.
The team also has an open criminal inquiry into a nonprofit that is run by a member of a county board that oversees the sheriff and is associated with county Supervisor Sheila Kuehl, both of whom have clashed fiercely with Villanueva and called for his resignation. [skip]
The unit has spurred a bitter confrontation between Villanueva and the Civilian Oversight Commission, which oversees the sheriff and his agency. Commission members say they fear the sheriff is using it to intimidate people who challenge him and to score points in personal vendettas, not conduct legitimate inquiries into possible crimes. [snip]
A central member of the team, several law enforcement sources said, was Mark Lillienfeld, a longtime homicide investigator who had retired in 2016.
More background on Villanueva
L.A. County sheriff reinstates deputy fired over domestic abuse and stalking allegations
https://www.latimes.com/local/lanow/la-me-alex-villanueva-sheriff-rehire-mandoyan-20190114-story.html
No paywall:
https://archive.ph/zJquf
Jan 15 2019
Caren Carl Mandoyan played a special role last month at the swearing-in of Los Angeles County Sheriff Alex Villanueva, standing on stage and holding the box of gold pins that would adorn the collars of the top cop and his senior executives.
Mandoyan served as a trusted member of Villanueva’s campaign team, acting as his driver and rallying rank-and-file deputies to lobby their union to endorse his long-shot candidacy.
But Mandoyan didn’t have the typical resume of a campaign worker. He served as a deputy for 10 years until he was fired in 2016 by then-Sheriff Jim McDonnell in connection with allegations of domestic abuse and stalking. A county appeals board heard evidence and upheld the dismissal.
Despite this, Villanueva decided to reinstate Mandoyan as a deputy in the Sheriff’s Department, where he is assigned to the South Los Angeles station.
It looks like Villanueva has turned out to be a hot mess.
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