Access to Police File Denied in Torture Case : Courts: The judge refuses to allow a woman’s lawyer to see the arresting officer’s personnel material. She is charged with assaulting her 10-year-old nephew.

A judge refused Tuesday to allow a lawyer for a woman accused of assaulting and torturing her young nephew to examine a confidential personnel file of the arresting officer, who resigned amid an unrelated misconduct investigation.

The action came Tuesday before jury selection began in the trial of Cynthia Medina. The 32-year-old Orange woman is accused of using a miniature souvenir baseball bat to anally penetrate her 10-year-old nephew in September. She also is accused of searing the boy’s tongue with a heated butter knife.

Defense attorney Richard Gilbert argued that the background of former Orange Police Officer Randall Driver is relevant to his defense of Medina, who has pleaded not guilty by reason of insanity.

“It goes to credibility,” Gilbert said, adding that Driver arrested and interviewed Medina and was present at searches of her home.

Orange County Superior Court Judge John J. Ryan denied the defense request for access to Driver’s personnel records, saying Gilbert failed to show legal grounds for access to the information.

The judge also rejected Gilbert’s request to remove prosecutor Charles Middleton, who is handling the Medina trial and is head of the district attorney’s sexual assault unit that investigated the former Orange officer. Middleton said prosecutors found no evidence of criminal misconduct involving Driver and a woman he arrested on suspicion of drunk driving. No charges were filed, Middleton said.

Middleton and Orange police officials said Tuesday that Driver’s recent problems with the department have nothing to do with the Medina case. Middleton said he never intended to call Driver as a witness.

During Tuesday’s hearing, Gilbert said his client contends that Driver was present after her arrest when someone in a group of two or three people photographed her in her underwear.

In court, Driver denied ever seeing Medina’s exposed body or seeing anyone take photographs of her.