GLENDALE, CALIFORNIA — The Los Angeles Times is prepping for a legal showdown after a judge ordered them to change a story about a dirty cop.

According to the L.A. Times, the article talked about John Saro Balian, a Glendale detective who got busted for working with the Mexican mafia and Armenian organized crime.

Balian got into a plea deal with prosecutors that was supposed to be filed under seal, but instead was put on a public online database, where it was found by a Times reporter.

Naturally, she included the information in her article, since it was relevant and publicly available.

Balian's lawyer apparently didn't think so, and asked a judge to get the article thrown out. Lucky for him, he got Judge John F. Walter, who threw out First Amendment rights in favor of a dirty detective.

The Times complied with the order to take out certain information, but is planning to fight back.