Sheila Kuehl has filed a court action to stop the LA County Sheriff’s Department from examining any of the material seized during a raid last week.
The Sheriff’s Department claims Kuehl steered a now-defunct MTA contract to Giggans, something the MTA approved independent of Kuehl and the Board of Supervisors, and it’s an accusation Kuehl and Giggans have repeatedly denied.
“Simply put, this search warrant should be seen for what it is: a flagrant abuse of power and an offense to the rule of law,” the filing said. LA Superior Court Judge William Ryan ordered the Sheriff’s Department last Thursday to cease its examination of two computers taken from the MTA OIG’s office and return them, and scheduled a hearing for Thursday with a list of questions he expects LASD to answer.
“Why, after Judge Hunter was going to require a Special Master, did the Sheriff immediately seek a warrant from a different judge, and who made that decision,” Judge Ryan wrote in the Thursday order requiring answers from LASD. “This is exactly the type of obstruction, interference, and political shenanigans which Sheriff Alex Villanueva fights against daily,” the statement said, and added that the Sheriff’s Department now had no ability to retain legal representation for next week’s hearing.