Deputy Charged in 3 Felonies

A Los Angeles County sheriff’s deputy, turned in by his trainee, was charged Friday with falsifying records and filing false reports in three separate criminal cases, the district attorney’s office said.

David Auner, 31, surrendered in Los Angeles Superior Court and posted $50,000 bail, authorities said. The charges are felonies; Auner faces a maximum sentence of five years in state prison if convicted.

The case stems from three incidents in March and April 1999 in which Auner, a field training officer at the Century station in Lynwood, allegedly changed details of his investigations. His trainee, whose name was not released but whose father and uncle also are sheriff’s deputies, apparently alerted authorities after the third incident.

Richard Shinee, an attorney representing Auner, said the charges are “particularly weak” and that he doesn’t believe the deputy falsified documents.

Sheriff’s Department spokesmen refused to comment on the case, saying it is an active criminal investigation.

But with the Los Angeles Police Department’s Rampart scandal as a backdrop, sheriff’s officials were careful to point out that they believe numerous differences exist between Auner’s case and the alleged corruption in the LAPD. Some sheriff’s officials called the charges against Auner “lightweight” and said they are much less egregious than the allegations facing Rampart officers.

But some sources close to the Sheriff’s Department said they are concerned about the similarities to Rampart, including reports written to cover up problem investigations and the manufacturing of “probable cause.”

Shinee, the Century station deputy’s attorney, said he believes Rampart has a great deal to do with the charges against his client.

“Our preliminary review would indicate that these charges are more a product of our times than any substantive misconduct on his part,” the attorney said. “I suspect cases that would never have passed the smell test are now being filed.”

Deputy Dist. Atty. Valerie Aenlle-Rocha refused to respond to any suggestion that the Rampart investigation had any bearing on this case.

She said the filing of false reports is considered “a wobbler,” meaning it could be a misdemeanor or a felony. She chose to file the cases as felonies. “I think it’s an extremely serious thing to falsify information about a case,” she said.

Sheriff’s deputies began keeping an eye on Auner well before the trainee alerted his supervisors, according to sources close to the Sheriff’s Department. Earlier in the year, these sources said, Auner’s name surfaced after a Century station lieutenant asked judges and public defenders about the credibility and reliability of the station’s deputies.

Some months later, the trainee alleged to authorities that Auner was changing details of investigations on police reports and records, sources said.

In one incident, deputies arrested an 18-year-old carrying a spray-paint can after they saw him pass freshly painted graffiti, sources said. The report was written to indicate that the partners saw the man spraying the wall, but the trainee told authorities that they had not witnessed such an act.

In another incident, Auner indicated in his report that he had admonished witnesses to a drive-by shooting about the appropriate procedures for identifying a suspect. Sources said, however, that he had either failed to give the admonishment or gave only part of it to the three witnesses.

The third incident involved a drug suspect, sources said. Auner allegedly grabbed the suspect by the throat and forced him to spit rock cocaine into his hand, sources said. The report, however, failed to mention the use of force, which would have triggered an internal investigation. Instead, the report said the suspect voluntarily spat the drugs from his mouth, the sources said.