After discovering he was a target of a secret launched by a former Assistant District Attorney, Nathaniel Moore filed a civil rights suit, and San Diego County agreed to pay $125,000.
Assistant DA Jesse Rodriguez ordered the investigation and his daughter, Elizabeth Rodriguez, a prosecutor, to obtain damaging information to use in a child custody battle. Both Elizabeth and Moore were in a relationship for several years, and in 2017, they had a child.
Moore filed a suit in 2020 claiming that Jesse would use the Attorney's office staff and resources to find perjury-related evidence or fraud through the Employment Development Department relating to an unemployment claim. Moore had filed this suit with the state in 2017, but no evidence was found.
U.S. District Court Judge Cynthia Bashant threw out much of the claims made in the suit, but she allowed the claims over the prison records to move forward. Additionally, Moore sued the county for negligence, but the judge dismissed the claim.
According to the report, Chula Vista Police conducted a separate investigation into Elizabeth's allegations during their child custody dispute of domestic violence against Moore. No charges were made, though the report results were sent to the District Attorney's office. According to the suit, Elizabeth had threatened Moore that she could send him back to prison if he fought for custody of their child.
Elizabeth produced a copy of Moore's psychiatric prison records during a mediation session during their custody dispute. Moore argued his rights were violated using those confidential psychiatric records. In 2009, Moore was released from state prison after serving ten years of killing a man during a street fight in Los Angeles.
In late 2018, Jessie Rodriguez retired from his position at the DA's South Bay office as Assistant DA.
