FIRST ON FOX: Newly launched video shows Los Angeles District Attorney George Gascon’s prime aide arrested after interrupting police who pulled over his then-fiance throughout a visitors cease on their means dwelling from a marriage in 2021.
Joseph Iniguez, the present No. 2 prosecutor in Los Angeles, was driving shotgun when police pulled the couple over for a suspected visitors violation.
Iniguez was Gascon’s chief of employees at the time, and final yr he acquired a $10,000 settlement from Asuza after he sued over the incident, alleging a federal civil rights violation. Â He has since been promoted to chief deputy district lawyer.
WOKE CALIFORNIA PROSECUTOR ‘IRONICALLY IN CHARGE OF ETHICS’ CHARGED WITH FELONIES
Joseph Iniguez sits beside his boss, Los Angeles County District Attorney George Gascon, at the Reform L.A. Jails Summit + Day Party: Mental Health Matters, on November 09, 2019, in Pasadena, California. (Jesse Grant/Getty Images for Patrisse Cullors)
Iniguez, who recorded the video on a cellphone, may be heard telling officers, “You’ve pulled over the wrong person, let me tell you.”
“This is not right,” he says. “This is why when they talk about law enforcement and like our interactions with law enforcement – he did the right thing tonight, and drove me. We were at a wedding.”
TOP ADVISER TO LEFT-WING CALIFORNIA DA CHARGED WITH NEARLY A DOZEN FELONIES
Iniguez was accused of repeatedly interrupting an Asuza police officer who was making an attempt to query his then-fiance after a visitors cease. (Asuza Police Department)
Iniguez additionally urged the officers to examine his license plates, which might have revealed to them that he labored for the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office.
“Run our plates, and see what you find,” he mentioned. “Honestly. I’m not saying anything, just see what you find.”
Also throughout the encounter, he repeatedly urges his fiance to not converse with the officers.Â
After arresting the driver, the officer informed Iniguez he was underneath arrest as properly. (Asuza Police Department)
“FSTs are completely voluntary and not required by law,” he shouts as an officer makes an attempt to interview the driver.Â
FST refers to subject sobriety assessments, which police use to evaluate potential drunkenness.Â
A nonetheless picture taken from jailhouse surveillance video shows Los Angeles Chief Deputy District Attorney Joseph Iniguez making a cellphone name from lockup after a 2021 arrest for public intoxication. (Asuza Police Department)
“If he has probable cause, he will arrest you,” Iniguez continues. “…He has reasonable suspicion, so he says, to conduct a traffic stop. OK.”
Under a California legislation, Government Code 26540, prosecutors will not be allowed to help in the protection of any suspected criminals in anyway.
“A district attorney shall not during his incumbency defend or assist in the defense of, or act as counsel for, any person accused of any crime in any county,” the code reads, in accordance to FindLaw.Â
An Asuza, California, police officer escorts George Gascon’s right-hand man Joseph Iniguez right into a cell after a 2021 cease for public intoxication. (Asuza Police Department)
After his fiance is handcuffed, the officer approaches Iniguez and arrests him too.
“Sir, you’re currently in public, and you’re intoxicated,” he says. “You’re being placed under arrest right now. Turn around for me. Put your hands behind your back.”
Additional video shows Iniguez at the jail however doesn’t embrace audio.
Another top Gascon aide, Diana Teran, faces an 11-count felony indictment for allegations that she improperly accessed Brady materials in opposition to Los Angeles sheriff’s deputies.
Iniguez chats with legislation enforcement after his 2021 arrest. (Asuza Police Department)
Teran is accused of accessing a sheriff’s workplace database about its deputies when she labored there after which taking that data together with her to the district lawyer’s workplace to work for Gascon, who was elected on an anti-police platform. Under Gascon, she “impermissibly” used the improperly obtained knowledge to help, in keeping with the California Attorney General’s Office.
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Her protection lawyer, James Spertus, beforehand informed Fox News Digital that he expects to clear his consumer and that the state has a weak case.
The Association of Deputy District Attorneys, the county prosecutors’ union, has named each Iniguez and Teran in a 2022 lawsuit alleging they each ordered subordinates to interrupt the legislation.
Neither Iniguez nor Gascon’s workplace instantly responded to requests for remark late Monday night.
Fox News’ Kyle Schmidbauer contributed to this report.
