In a shocking turn of events in Dallas, Texas, a public defender finds herself on the wrong side of the law after allegedly sharing confidential victim information with a former client who was behind bars.
This unusual case has taken a dramatic twist as investigators uncover a "personal relationship" between the defender and the inmate, leading to legal consequences.
Ragan Sierra Moreno, employed by the Dallas County Public Defender's Office for approximately eight months, now faces charges of abuse of official capacity. The Dallas County Sheriff's Department revealed that a detention service officer raised concerns about Moreno's extensive interactions with the inmate, even though she was no longer representing him.
It appears that Moreno exploited her Dallas County identification to access both the inmate's records and those of another detainee. Authorities acted swiftly, resulting in Moreno's arrest late last week.
She has since posted a $5,000 bond.
According to an arrest affidavit, Moreno's connection with the inmate, identified as Todd Whitfield, whom she had previously represented, went beyond professional boundaries. She allegedly disclosed sensitive case details that prompted the inmate to send a threatening text message from his jail-issued tablet.
Sources suggest that Moreno initially represented Whitfield in a burglary of vehicles case, but their relationship extended beyond the courtroom and persisted even after the case's dismissal.
Detectives, alarmed by the nature of Moreno and Whitfield's phone conversations, suspected an intimate relationship between the two.
In a startling revelation, the affidavit disclosed a plan for Moreno to "expose herself" to Whitfield while he waved a towel from his jail cell window during a courthouse parking lot encounter. Fortunately, this scheme was thwarted when Moreno spotted a Dallas County Marshal vehicle nearby.
In another unsettling development, Whitfield requested that Moreno access his brother's assault and family violence cases dating back to 2020. Moreno complied, divulging the initials of at least three victims using her county-issued laptop, granting Whitfield access to sensitive information.
He allegedly sent a chilling message to one of the victims, hinting at an ominous meeting in the future.
The Texas Bar Association reported that Moreno obtained her law license in 2020 and had no prior disciplinary history. She graduated from the University of North Texas at Dallas in May 2020.
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