Judge Looks for Public Interest in L.A. Deputy’s Post-Trial Plea

An unusual move to offer a Los Angeles sheriff’s deputy a post-trial plea agreement following his felony conviction for excessive force was probed by a federal judge Monday, who wondered what authority the court had to grant the motion.

Judge Stephen V. Wilson of the US District Court for the Central District of California told a prosecutor he doesn’t see the issue “as straightforward as you have seemed to argue it.”

“The government hasn’t addressed, at least from my read, any issue of public interest,” Wilson said, which appears to be the guiding principal in the case law.

“He used ...