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THE VIEW FROM HERE - Practical Advice: Due to the widening scope of Tapegate, anyone and everyone involved as a victim, witness and/or a perp should retain legal counsel without delay.
While no one should rely on the truthfulness of anything published in the Los Angeles Times, anyone may take note when it publishes an article. The starting point of any investigation should not be to believe what anyone says, but rather to treat it neutrally until reliable and credible evidence establishes its accuracy or falsehood. An objective analysis may reveal the skullduggery which power players are trying to hide.
As related in LAPD Fiascos, The LAPD allowed the Labor Federation where the illegal audio tape was made to conduct the investigation and “During that (Federation) inquiry, the forensic investigator found sound-editing software on Leon’s computer and turned its findings over to the LAPD, the source said.” Only after the Federation had had sole custody and control of the crime scene and all the computers and other electronic equipment for months while the Federation gathered “evidence” for the LAPD, did the LAPD obtain a warrant to search Santos Leon’s and Karla Vasquez’s home, but it did not obtain any warrant to search the Federation or anyone else’s computers.
May The LAPD Out Source Investigations?
The LAPD may not out source its investigative duties to private parties in order to avoid its obtaining warrants. The LA Times article makes clear that the LAPD had avoided obtaining warrants to search Federation’s computers and premises by allowing the Federation to do perform those tasks on the LAPD’s behalf. The LAPD may not authorize private persons to make warrantless searches in violation of the 4th Amendment. While the Federation could consent to LAPD’s searching the property which it controls, it may not operate as LAPD’s agent so that the LAPD may violate the 4th and 5th Amendments. Does anyone believe that when Federation questioned people, it was giving Miranda warnings? The LA Times’ reporting of the LAPD’s actions raises the likelihood that the LAPD violated federal civil rights statutes. Those violations will also give rise to private causes of action where the injured parties will have the panoply of civil discovery. Some day will Chief Moore assert the 5th Amendment during a civil deposition? What about Mayor Karen Bass?
It will be interesting to see if the LAPD convinced a judge to sign search warrants which the Federation would exercise on behalf of the LAPD without informing the people of the secret warrants. The extent to which the Federation questioned suspects without giving Miranda warnings will also be interesting. Most eagerly awaited will be the LAPD’s explanation why it allowed months of investigation to be conducted by the Federation.
Of great interest will be how the LAPD verified that the Federation did not tamper with and/or destroy evidence while it was conducting the investigation which was law enforcement’s responsibility. Since people claim that no one knew ab initio who made the illegal tape recording, how does the FBI know that the persons to whom it delegated its duties were not the criminals who would use the time to frame innocent people?
According to the LA Times July 24, 2023, LA Times , this situation was not one where the LAPD had identified a suspect, obtained a warrant based on reliable and credible evidence, and then wiretapped the suspect. Rather the Federation had free and unsupervised range to search anywhere and everywhere it liked without advising anyone what it was doing or that it was acting as an arm of the LAPD. What becomes of the rule of law when the LAPD or FBI can ask a private citizen to do what the US Constitution forbids law enforcement to do? From the LA Times article, the LAPD has adopted measures which even the FISA Court would not permit. May 19, 2023 The Hill, FBI Repeatedly Misused Surveillance Tool, Unsealed FISA Order Reveals, by Jared Gans Let’s see which California judge, if any, approved secret searches.
Let’s see the warrants’ factual affidavits under oath providing probable cause for searches and Miranda-less questioning of employees and visitors at the Federation. Let’s also see how the LAPD handles the chain of evidence, especially as to Santos Leon’s computer. Let’s see how the LAPD handles not searching other Federation employees’ computers. Let’s see how the LAPD explains not searching the Federation’s premises for recording equipment.
What Did the LAPD Do about the Terrorist Threats?
Let’s also see the communications between Mayor Karen Bass and the LAPD. Let’s see the LAPD’s explanation for its non-arrest of Jason Reedy and his cohorts who engaged in criminal threats to coerce councilmembers to quit their council seats. Under Penal Code § 422 criminal threats are threats of death or great bodily injury that are intended to place victims in reasonable and sustained fear for their safety or the safety of their families. It will be interesting to see why the LAPD did nothing, knowing mobs were at councilmembers’ homes and making threats to maim and/or kill the councilmembers and their children so that councilmembers fled and went into hiding. It sounds as if the LAPD was cooperating with the thugs, who seem to be political allies of Mayor Bass, while abandoning the victims. Of course, the LAPD’ apparent dereliction of duty is all the more serious since its inaction encouraged more political violence.
The Turning Point Where the Tape Became a Felony
Assuming arguendo that Santos Leon taped the meeting with the three councilmembers and Ron Herrera, his illegal taping became the basis of the felony with the intentionally False Narrative of anti-Black racism by KNOCK LA and by the LA Times. The False Narrative quickly escalated to criminal conduct to coerce all three councilmembers to resign. From what we have seen so far, the LAPD has gone out of its way to protect the political operatives behind the morphing of the Reddit blurb of race cooperation into the false claims of anti-Black racism. As with Donald Trump, had the villains limited themselves to vilely false speech, they would not have crossed over into criminal behavior. Tapegate villains are so far into criminal territory that only additional misconduct by law enforcement can protect them. The time is overdue for integrity to replace political expediency.
(Richard Lee Abrams has been an attorney, a Realtor and community relations consultant as well as a CityWatch contributor. You may email him at [email protected])
