A judge ruled Tuesday that two defamation claims can remain part of a lawsuit filed by a former prosecutor who alleges she was wrongfully transferred for her support of a resentencing of the Mendendez brothers while George Gascón was district attorney.
Lawsuits were filed April 7 in Los Angeles Superior Court by Deputy District Attorneys Nancy Theberge and Brock Lunsford. The plaintiffs allege a host of allegations, including whistleblower retaliation, discrimination, harassment, both intentional and negligent infliction of emotional distress, violations of the state Labor Code as well as defamation and self-defamation.
On Tuesday, Judge Steve Cochran denied the county’s anti-SLAPP motion in Theberge’s suit. The state’s anti-SLAPP — Strategic Lawsuit Against Public Participation — law is intended to prevent people from using courts, and potential threats of a lawsuit, to intimidate those who are exercising their First Amendment rights.
The alleged defamation involves comments made by another prosecutor, Deputy District Attorney John Lewin, in which he gave his opinion of the Mendendez re-sentencing motion. The county lawyers maintained the two claims arise from protected speech.
“In response to what he apparently viewed as an ethically deficient and incomplete filing, Lewin — speaking exclusively in his personal capacity and not as a deputy district attorney — criticized the Menendez motion in a televised `Fox & Friends’ appearance and multiple publicly accessible Facebook posts,” the county attorneys stated in their court papers.
In addition, Lewin’s statements were not authorized, sanctioned or ratified by the county, according to the county attorneys’ pleadings.
The self-defamation claims pertain to the plaintiffs’ assertions that they have been forced to explain and address Lewin’s statements to colleagues and prospective employers, causing further reputational and emotional harm. But the county attorneys maintained that because the defamation claims are unsupported by law, the self-defamation claims also failed.
Theberge believed that resentencing the Menendezes was required by law and that it would be unlawful to not bring such a motion, the suit states. However, after Gascón lost in November and current District Attorney Nathan Hochman took office, he removed both Theberge and Lunsford from the case almost immediately, according to the suit.
Theberge, a unit leader, was transferred out of the District Attorney’s Office entirely and reassigned to the Alternate Public Defender’s Office, which the complaint describes as a “clear punitive move.”
Lunsford, a 25-year veteran, was stripped of his supervisory duties and reassigned to a low-level calendar deputy position in a remote branch court, according to the suit.
Judge Rupert A. Byrdsong is scheduled to hear the county’s anti-SLAPP motion on the same defamation and self-defamation causes of action in Lunsford’s suit on Wednesday.