Another Probe Urged of Duffy’s Outside Jobs : Ethics: A lawyer seeking an internal review says Duffy has fired deputies for lying while attempting to hide his own activities as a private consultant.

Noting that San Diego County Sheriff John Duffy has fired rank-and-file deputies for lying, a local attorney said Wednesday that he will ask the Sheriff’s Department’s internal affairs division to review allegations that the sheriff lied about his work as a private consultant.

It is the second time this week that a formal investigation has been requested into allegations of misconduct by Duffy for allegedly attempting to hide his outside income.

James Gattey, an attorney who has represented dozens of sheriff’s deputies disciplined by Duffy for misconduct, said the same high set of standards should be applied to the sheriff himself, especially now that Duffy is offering conflicting versions of his activities as a private consultant.

Duffy told a television interviewer in June that he has always lived on his county salary and that “I don’t have a second job.” He told reporters Tuesday that he had advised Chief Administrative Officer Norman Hickey about his outside work, but Hickey says he never knew Duffy had a second income.

The Times reported Sunday that Duffy earned about $150 a day for more than 38 days of work for a Washington consultant firm, and Duffy told a KFMB (Channel 8) television reporter Wednesday that he made $500 a day working for a second firm reviewing the management of the Arlington, Tex., Police Department.

Duffy told The Times this summer that he could not remember why he made three trips to Texas and Washington, trips he took as a private consultant.

The sheriff has failed to report any of the income on his annual public disclosure forms, contending that he is not required to do so.

Gattey’s request for an internal Sheriff’s Department review of Duffy and his consulting work is the second plea for a formal investigation into the matter. Another attorney, Everett Bobbitt, plans to file a complaint with the state Fair Political Practices Commission.

Both Gattey and Bobbitt provide legal representation for deputies who are disciplined, but each of them has emphasized that he is filing the complaints as a private citizen.

Gattey said that, in the past two years, he has represented five deputies who were harshly disciplined by Duffy for misconduct involving untruthfulness.

“In all of those cases, with one exception, termination was the discipline that the sheriff imposed,” Gattey said. “The one exception was a lesser penalty, and it involved an extremely minor matter.”

Gattey said Duffy has long demanded that his staff be honest and truthful, both in dealing with the public and their superiors. Gattey said credibility is a law enforcement officer’s most precious attribute.

“I have heard a number of senior members of the command staff say that the lack of truthfulness effectively makes a law enforcement officer worthless,” he said. “They are called upon to testify in court. They must represent themselves properly to the public.

“And, if the public has any questions about them and recognizes any problems about their truthfulness, then their effectiveness as a law enforcement officer is done away with,” Gattey said. Duffy refused to talk to The Times on Wednesday.

Sgt. Gary Cantrell, of the sheriff’s internal affairs division, said he is unsure how the complaint against the sheriff will be handled.