Attorneys for Los Angeles County filed court papers Thursday asking a court to consider holding Sheriff Alex Villanueva and his undersheriff in contempt for allegedly ignoring subpoenas to appear before the Civilian Oversight Commission and testify about alleged deputy cliques.
Subpoenas to Villanueva and Undersheriff Timothy Murakami required each of them to appear and testify at the commission's July 1 public hearing on whether so-called deputy gangs exist in the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department and their alleged refusal to comply subjects them to the contempt procedures, according to the Los Angeles Superior Court petition, CNS/KFI reports.
A sheriff's department representative did not immediately reply to a request for comment. Villanueva's non-appearance was the sixth straight time he has disobeyed a commission subpoena, according to the petition.
