Tuesday, November 12, 2002
Page 5
Former San Bernardino Prosecutor Facing Misdemeanor Charge of Battery
By a MetNews Staff Writer
Former San Bernardino Assistant District Attorney Daniel Lough is scheduled to appear in Superior Court Thursday for arraignment on one charge of battery, Senior Assistant Attorney General Gary W. Schons said Friday.
Lough is accused of striking a woman outside a San Bernardino restaurant last month. He is charged under Penal Code Section 243 (e)(1), which addresses acts of battery committed against a former spouse, fiancée or a person with whom the defendant has or formerly had a dating relationship. The alleged victim in the Lough case, Schons said, is a woman Lough previously dated.
If convicted of the offense, Lough faces a $2,000 fine, up to one year in county jail, or both. If sentenced to probation, the law requires a defendant to successfully complete a one-year batterer’s treatment program.
Schons, who is assigned to the state Attorney General’s Office in San Diego, said it is “typical” for the Attorney General’s Office to handle criminal matters involving local prosecutors if the alleged act is anything more significant than a traffic ticket. He said the Lough case was referred directly to his office by the San Bernardino Police Department because “they were aware of a conflict of interest” occurring as a result of Lough working for the District Attorney’s Office.
Susan Mickey, spokeswoman for the District Attorney’s Office, declined comment on the matter, but said Lough is currently on administrative leave. Lough most recently was assigned to a unit handling Real Estate matters.
Lough joined the San Bernardino County District Attorney’s Office as assistant district attorney in January 1995, when District Attorney Dennis Stout took office. As Stout’s second-in-command, he was responsible for the office’s criminal division.
He earned his law degree from Loyola Law School in 1977, then worked as a prosecutor first in San Bernardino County’s Desert Division in Victorville, then in the West End. After two years in the Central Division’s Career Criminal Unit, he joined the Riverside County District Attorney’s Office. Lough spent eight years there, ultimately rising to senior deputy district attorney in the Homicide Unit. He left Riverside to join Stout in 1995.
Lough was demoted in 2001 following revelations that he, Stout, and former Chief of Investigations Barry Bruins discussed a criminal investigation of Supervisor Gerald Eaves with a political foe of the supervisor. Bruins was also demoted.
The high-profile incident ultimately led to the decision by Stout not to actively seek reelection to a third term, although his name appeared on last week’s ballot.
Following their demotions, Lough and Bruins filed suit accusing the county, Sheriff Gary Penrod and members of a multi-agency anti-corruption task force with invasion of privacy and defamation. That suit is pending.
Copyright 2002, Metropolitan News Company