After years-long fight, ex-sheriff agrees to comply with subpoenas, testify on deputy gangs

After years of resisting subpoenas to testify under oath about deputy gangs, former Los Angeles County Sheriff Alex Villanueva has reversed course and agreed to appear in front of the Civilian Oversight Commission.

His lawyer notified the commission of the decision in a December letter stating that Villanueva “is very willing to testify” in January and that he will “answer any question you have under oath.”

The change of heart comes days after a county judge scheduled a hearing to decide whether to order the former sheriff, who is running for county supervisor against incumbent Janice Hahn, to comply with the commission’s subpoenas.

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Villanueva’s attorney, Linda Savitt, confirmed in an email to The Times last week that her client plans to follow through and appear in front of the commission next month.

“He is going to testify under oath,” she wrote. “He’s a private citizen now.”

Late Monday night, Villanueva also reiterated his intent to comply with the subpoenas — though he framed the commission’s interest in his testimony as a political stunt.

“It seems the COC is only interested in subpoenas when my name is on a ballot and they want to influence the outcome of a race I’m in,” he wrote in an email to The Times. “I’ll be more than happy to expose the false narrative of deputy gangs as a private citizen.”

Despite the assurances from Villanueva and his lawyer, Sean Kennedy — who chairs the oversight commission — expressed some skepticism, pointing out that the former sheriff “said he was going to appear once before and then announced on Twitter that he wasn’t going to.”

Earlier this year, the commission’s special counsel issued a 70-page report condemning the “cancer” of violent deputy gangs and urging Sheriff Robert Luna to create a stronger policy banning the secretive groups.

The report’s findings and recommendations relied heavily on testimony from a series of seven public hearings, many of which involved witnesses testifying under oath. Despite being subpoenaed, Villanueva and former Undersheriff Tim Murakami both refused to testify at the hearings.

The legal wrangling began in 2020, after the Board of Supervisors granted the commission subpoena power, which voters then affirmed by approving Measure R. A few months later, Gov. Gavin Newsom signed a law granting subpoena power to oversight bodies statewide.

That same year, the commission issued a subpoena directing the sheriff to testify about his response to COVID-19 inside the jails. Villanueva questioned the legality of the subpoena, which he called a “public shaming endeavor.” The dispute ended up in court, but Villanueva avoided a contempt hearing by agreeing to answer the commission’s questions voluntarily.

California

Judge drops contempt hearing after Villanueva agrees to attend oversight meeting

A Superior Court judge canceled a hearing set for next month where lawyers for Los Angeles County Sheriff Alex Villanueva were going to have to explain why he should not be held in contempt of court for his refusal to comply with a subpoena and testify before a civilian oversight panel.

Dec. 24, 2020

Afterward, oversight officials issued more subpoenas, and Villanueva resisted them, resulting in multiple court cases.

In one of those cases, Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge Elaine Lu scheduled a contempt hearing for late last year, but called it off after Villanueva’s lawyers asked a higher court to step in.

The former sheriff’s legal counsel argued that the 2020 legislation Newsom signed described a two-step process and that the judge first needed to issue an order directing Villanueva to comply with the subpoena. Only if he ignored that could he be found in contempt, his lawyer said.

In September, an appeals court agreed. This month, lawyers for the county embarked on the two-step process by asking for a hearing so a judge could decide whether to order Villanueva and Murakami to comply with the subpoenas.

Less than two weeks later, Villanueva’s lawyer sent the oversight commission’s Kennedy a letter about the former sheriff’s willingness to testify in January. Unlike Villanueva, Murakami has not given any indication of a newfound willingness to speak to the commission, Kennedy told The Times.

Previously, the former undersheriff has cited a medical condition as his reason for refusing to testify. His attorney did not respond to The Times’ request for comment.