Treasure Ortiz, San Bernardino council member, pleads not guilty to recording police
Ortiz's attorney says the charges are among the "strangest things I've ever seen."
Black News 
San Bernardino City Councilmember Treasure Ortiz pleaded not guilty Thursday, Feb. 19, to charges that she recorded confidential communications with San Bernardino police without consent.
“The truth always comes out,” Ortiz said at the entrance of the San Bernardino Justice Center before her arraignment.
A group of seven people holding signs that read “Stop the cover up!” greeted Ortiz on the steps of the downtown San Bernardino courthouse. Before going in, Ortiz embraced every supporter.
“People think that you stand alone, but I’ve never (sat) …. alone in this community, and as long as people are willing to do the right thing and show up, I mean, that gives me hope,” Ortiz said.
Ortiz was charged by the San Bernardino County District Attorney with violating California’s law requiring two-party consent to record, as outlined in a city-issued news release on Jan. 22.
The release also mentioned Ortiz’s federal lawsuit against San Bernardino, alleging that police resources were used to dig up dirt to derail her political campaign.
Ortiz’s suit, filed Nov. 5 in U.S. District Court, alleges that a former San Bernardino police officer searched her in the California Law Enforcement Telecommunications System, a law enforcement database, to gather information to undermine her political activism before her campaign for the council’s Ward 7 seat.
Ortiz would go on to beat former City Attorney Jim Penman, 55% of the vote to 44%, in the November 2024 election.
In her suit, Ortiz’s lawsuit names the San Bernardino Police Officers Association, including association president Jose Loera, alleging that he was a key person spreading information meant to affect her campaign. In a news release, Loera rebuked Ortiz’s allegations, calling them “false, dishonest, and without merit.”
Ortiz also names San Bernardino Police Chief Darren Goodman as a defendant and accuses him of trying to blackmail her into dropping the case by suggesting he had records she wouldn’t want public. The San Bernardino City Council dismissed these claims as “false, inflammatory, and without evidence” and affirmed its support for Goodman.
Ortiz is seeking $2 million in damages.
Attorney Stephen Larson, who is representing the city, stated in the release that an independent firm investigated Ortiz’s allegations and found them to be “entirely unfounded.”
After Thursday’s hearing, Ortiz’s attorney Peter Schlueter described the charges as the “strangest things I’ve ever seen.”
Schlueter said he’s curious about the timing and optics of the charges.
“It’s been a year or more since the event where she is alleged to have surreptitiously recorded,” Schlueter said.
Schlueter said outside the crowded courtroom that the law doesn’t say the public can’t record conversations.
“It says you can’t record confidential communications, so communications that are in an open forum right now, anyone could be listening, because we’re in public,” he said.
This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.
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