Former DA investigator acquitted of perjury

After three weeks of testimony, a jury acquitted a former San Luis Obispo County District Attorney’s Office investigator of a single perjury charge after just one hour of deliberations Friday morning.

August Justino “A.J.” Santana, 47, was acused of one felony count of perjury based on discrepancies in a sworn affidavit he wrote to a San Luis Obispo Superior Court judge related to a methamphetamine investigation in 2014.

The case was being investigated by the California Department of Justice because of a conflict of interest with the local District Attorney’s Office. Following the verdict, San Luis Obispo County District Attorney Dan Dow declined to comment because of that conflict.

A spokesperson for the state Attorney General’s Office could not immediately be reached for comment on the case.

During his testimony, Santana blamed his inexperience in narcotics investigations for misstatements he made to Superior Court Judge Rita Federman in a written request to search a drug suspect’s home. But Deputy Attorney General Seth McCutcheon argued that Santana knew what he was doing and carefully altered his narrative to legitimize a shoddy sting operation.

Santana was a Pismo Beach police officer before being hired as a district attorney’s investigator, helping with prosecutions of financial criminals such as former Grover Beach financier Al Moriarty.

In September 2013, he was assigned to the county Sheriff’s Office narcotics unit, and he was lead investigator in an August 2014 case regarding a suspected meth dealer in San Miguel named Tommy Pappas. Using a confidential informant as a middle man, Santana set up a “controlled buy” with Pappas, whose identity was not known to Santana at the time.

The operation was compromised when the informant’s wife came along for the buy and she wasn’t properly searched before being alone at times with the informant out of officers’ view. Instead of aborting the operation, Santana allegedly skewed details in an affidavit in order to secure a warrant used to search Pappas’ home. After the warrant was authorized, the unit raided Pappas’ home and allegedly found a small amount of meth and paraphernalia.

Charges against Pappas were eventually dismissed once Santana’s affidavit came into question. Affidavits are statements written by an investigating officer that explain to a judge why probable cause exists to issue a search warrant. Santana’s affidavit remains under seal by a court order.

The District Attorney’s Office has not disclosed whether Santana resigned or was terminated in February 2015. He was charged with perjury in July.

This story was originally published April 8, 2016 at 12:38 PM with the headline "Former DA investigator acquitted of perjury."