Federal Court Caught Creating Fake News…

A federal judge on Saturday directed the Los Angeles Times to amend a story about a California police detective who was accused of working with the Mexican mafia after sealed court documents were accidentally made available online.

The article described a plea agreement between prosecutors and 45-year-old detective John Saro Balian. But the plea deal, which was supposed to be filed under seal, was accidentally made available in a public online database of federal court documents, according to the Times.

Shortly after the article was posted on Saturday morning, Balian’s attorney sought a temporary restraining order, which the judge granted later that afternoon.

“To the extent any article is published prior to issuance of this order, it shall be deleted and removed forthwith,” U.S. District Judge John F. Walter’s wrote in a ruling.

Following the decision, the Times removed any references about the sealed agreement, though pledged to challenge the ruling.

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