LOS ANGELES — A Superior Court judge late Thursday ordered Los Angeles County sheriff’s officials to stop searching certain computers seized as part of sprawling raids tied to an investigation into County Supervisor Sheila Kuehl, the Metropolitan Transportation Authority and a domestic violence nonprofit.
The order from Judge William Ryan applies solely to computers sheriff’s investigators took from Metro’s Office of Inspector General, whose attorney filed papers Thursday asking the judge to toss the search warrant used to seize the equipment.
The attorney argued that the warrant served this week was illegal. He said it failed to comply with a ruling made by a different judge regarding “an identical warrant” served last year in the same case, which has generated criticism that Sheriff Alex Villanueva is targeting his critics.
