Ex-Los Angeles County Sheriff Alex Villanueva, amidst a tough legal battle over his refusal to testify regarding deputy gangs, has finally signaled his intention to comply. According to FOX LA, Villanueva has agreed to appear before the county's Civilian Oversight Commission next month. Confirmed by lawyer Linda Savitt via email, Villanueva, running for county supervisor, insists he's ready to "answer any questions you have under oath."
In a turn that came after a county judge scheduled a hearing to decide on the need to enforce the commission's subpoenas, the former sheriff expressed his willingness as a private citizen to address the commission. According to an Los Angeles Times article, Villanueva's attorney mentioned his plan to testify under oath, a move previously resisted due to legal disputes over subpoena power and the legitimacy of the commission's demands.
Villanueva originally avoided a contempt hearing by agreeing to voluntarily respond to the commission's inquiry into his handling of COVID-19 in jails. In the process, however, multiple subpoenas were issued and led to a series of legal confrontations that culminated in this recent reversal. The legal wrangling began in 2020, following the affordance of subpoena power to the commission by the Board of Supervisors, which was later supported by Gov. Gavin Newsom.
The oversight commission has been vying to obtain testimony from former sheriff officials for years, with a 70-page report released earlier shedding light on the problem of deputy gangs, according to FOX LA. Villanueva's commitment comes as skepticism remains, given past hesitations revealed by Sean Kennedy, chair of the commission. "He said he was going to appear once before and then announced on Twitter that he wasn’t going to," Kennedy told the Los Angeles Times, reflecting on the tumultuous journey to this testimony.
Despite this breakthrough, Alex Villanueva's former Undersheriff, Tim Murakami, has not indicated any intention of following suit. Kennedy relayed to the Los Angeles Times that there's been no similar gesture from Murakami, who previously cited a medical condition for his refusal to provide testimony.
