Judge slams county counsel's 'obvious conflict of interest' in opposing a suit seeking use-of-force records

LOS ANGELES — A Los Angeles County Superior Court judge is calling on the county to show that it is acting ethically and professionally in a lawsuit by the L.A. County Sheriff Civilian Oversight Commission seeking Sheriff's Department records related to three use-of-force incidents. In a five-page tentative ruling on Aug. 24, Judge Jerrold Abeles criticized an "obvious conflict of interest" and "a shocking breach of an attorney's ethical duties to a client" — namely the oversight body — by the county counsel's office.