Former Los Angeles Times reporter Mayarau filed a federal lawsuit Tuesday against former Sheriff Alex Villanueva, former sheriff and former detectives.
Less than a year after Lau revealed she was the target of an investigation into the LA County Sheriff’s department, “it was alleged in an email statement about a leaked list of deputies with a history of illegal activities designed to threaten and punish Lau for her report.
Lau’s lawsuit seeks unspecified damages to compensate her for alleged violations of her dignity and privacy, as well as the “continuous injuries” and anxiety she calls in her complaints in which she faces the revelation she was investigated.
The lawsuit details “six different counts that violate Ms. Lau’s rights under the U.S. Constitution and California law, including retaliation and civil conspiracy to deny constitutional rights.”
“It is absolute rage for the sheriff’s department to criminally investigate journalists for doing her job,” Lau said in a statement. “I am filing this lawsuit not only for myself, but to send a clear signal to the reporter’s name everywhere. We are not threatened. The sheriff’s department needs to know that these types of tactics against journalists are illegal.”
The Sheriff’s Office said in an email statement by late Tuesday afternoon “the case has not been officially provided.”
“Though these allegations stem from previous administrations, Los Angeles County Sheriff Robert G. Luna is firmly committed to supporting the Constitution, including the First Amendment,” the statement said. “We respect the important role that journalists play in holding agents accountable and believe in the public’s right to free and independent reporting.”
Villanueva said in an email that he had not yet fully considered the complaint and that “under the advice of a lawyer, I have not commented on the pending lawsuit.”
“What I can say was based on the facts presented to the Attorney General’s office, like all the investigations conducted by the Public Corruption Unit during my tenure as Los Angeles County sheriff,” he said. “It’s political establishment that LA Times is part of, and we hope that such frivolous lawsuits will cool legal investigations and criminal accountability.”
A spokesman for the county advisory office declined to comment further. Other defendants in the lawsuit, former sheriff Tim Murakami and former det. Mark Lillienfeld did not respond to requests for comment Tuesday afternoon.
In December 2017, The Times published a list of about 300 problem agents. The lengthy case file shows that department investigators have launched their initial investigation into who provided the LAU. The agency’s investigation began when Jim McDonnell was the sheriff in 2017. The Sheriff’s Office ultimately stopped investigating without mentioning the prosecution after “did not provide evidence linking Ms. Lau’s complaints stated.
A case file reviewed by the Times last year said he revived Lau’s investigation after Villanueva became sheriff in 2018. It alleges that this is part of an “illicit conspiracy” that was carried out as part of the policy of “retaliatory criminal charges against Lasd’s perceived adversaries.”
Lilienfeld led the investigation, and Villanueva led the “delegated to the Murakami House of Representatives to the decision-making authority.” In May 2024, the office refused to indict her, citing inadequate evidence.
However, Lau argues that the damages had already been made and that her rights under the First Amendment and the California Constitution had been violated. “If LASD’s actions are free, then Los Angeles journalists will be chilled out from reporting on issues of public concern for fear that they will be investigated and charged.”
The Sheriff’s Office told the Times last year that Lau’s investigation had been closed and that the department under Luna was not monitoring journalists.
David Snyder, executive director of the First Amendment Coalition, a nonprofit free speech and press advocacy organization, said last year that reports on leaked materials containing issues of public concern are “protected under the First Amendment,” even if reporters perceived as illegally obtained by reporters.
“We are not allowed to break into a file cabinet to get records. We are not allowed to hack computers. But it is not a crime to receive information that someone else has obtained it illegally,” Snyder said.
The leaked record saga began in 2014 when Diana Terran compiled a list of agents with a history of disciplinary issues. Terran worked for the county Independent Review Office. This was overseen by the Sheriff’s Department until it was closed that July.
In 2015, Terran was hired by the Sheriff’s Division and served as an internal watchdog. In 2017, she heard Times reporters, including Lau, had been asking questions about the list, according to a research file reviewed by the Times last year.
After further investigation and learning that the reporter had asked about certain details matching the 2014 list, she was worried that it had leaked.
On December 8, 2017, The Times, run by Lau and two other reporters, described some of the misconduct detailed on the list, including planting evidence, forgery of records, and sexual assault. Some of the agents on the list that reporters found have continued their work or been promoted.
Sheriff’s investigators interviewed Terran and other department officials who refused to leak the list. The investigation was dropped before Villanueva became sheriff in November 2018.
A few months later, Lilienfeld was assigned to investigate allegations that Terran and other oversight personnel had illegally accessed department personnel records and resumed the investigation into the leaked list.
Lillienfeld’s inquiry produced an 80-page report, part of a case file reviewed by Times last year. It detailed the potential time when the list could have been leaked by Teran and she said she had denied doing so.
In the fall of 2021, Murakami sent a 300-page case file. This sent General Max Huntsman, Lau, Terran, Lau County Inspector, Terran, Terran assistant and lawyer in the Huntsman’s office to California Atty. General Rob Bonta. According to the complaint, there was no possible cause for Lau to indict him.
“Rep. Murakami allegedly claimed that Lau had conspiracy, theft of government property, illegal access to computers, robbery and received stolen property,” the complaint said. “Mr. Lau did not commit these crimes.”
Bonta refused to indict the case.
“The retaliatory investigation into Lau is an example of how Alex Villanueva used LASD to target and harass political opponents,” said Justin Hill, lawyer for Loevy & Loevy, who represents Lau. “Our community suffers when government leaders try to silence journalists and other individuals who hold them accountable. This lawsuit seeks to reaffirm the protected role journalism plays in our society.”
