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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. |
