Our sister publication the O.C. Weekly has a wrap-up today on the tale of L.A. County deputy sheriff Robert Andrew Moran. Make that convicted deputy sheriff Moran, as a judge sentenced him to six months in jail for causing an injury accident while driving under the influence last year. What made this case a cut above the usual DUI-cop story was that the vehicle Moran was driving at the time was a marked, LASD SUV, and that Orange County deputies allegedly tried to cover up the crash, which took place in the O.C. town of Stanton.

"An eyewitness at the scene," writes the O.C. Weekly's  Matt Coker, "previously told the Weekly's R. Scott Moxley that some unnamed Orange County sheriff's deputies arrived at the scene and tried to help their LA County colleague by quickly giving him water before any field sobriety tests could be given by other officers working the accident. The local deputies also tried to prevent for as long as they could the blood test that would ulimately seal Moran's fate, Moxley was told."

The O.C. Weekly piece concludes by noting that a lawyer for Moran, who is currently on unpaid leave, says the deputy will seek reinstatement. According to the O.C. Register and other sources, Moran has served nearly all of the six-month sentence under home confinement since pleading no contest last February. Earlier this year the L.A. Times carried a piece about the L.A. County Office of Independent Review's claim that alcoholism is a growing problem within the department, and that alcohol-related arrests of LASD employees have nearly tripled since 2004.