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Secret recording of inmates in L.A. courthouse being probed

by City News Service • July 31, 2018

LOS ANGELES – A courthouse recording that raised concerns about violations of attorney-client confidentiality was made by the Los Angeles Police Department at the request of a deputy district attorney and with the cooperation of the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department, it was reported Tuesday.

Craig Kleffman, the prosecutor previously assigned to a case involving three people charged with kidnapping and assault, enlisted the support of LAPD officers and a sheriff’s sergeant to place recording devices in a courthouse room used by attorneys to interview their clients, according to a declaration by Stephen Gunson, the prosecutor currently assigned to the case, the Los Angeles Times reported. No employee of the district attorney’s office has listened to the recordings, Gunson said.

Interim Public Defender Nicole Davis Tinkham sent a confidential email to the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors this month, informing the officials that her office was investigating the recording operation. The deputy public defender who alleged that her conversations with a client had been recorded, Tiffiny Blacknell, asked the district attorney’s office to hand over information related to the details of the operation.

Last week the LAPD submitted to the court two DVDs of the recordings, which will be held under seal, according to The Times.

A spokeswoman for the district attorney’s office previously said attorney-client calls had “inadvertently” been recorded.

Between 5 and 6 a.m. on July 3, according to Gunson’s declaration, a member of the LAPD placed two hidden recording devices “on the inmates’ side” of the 14th-floor interview room at the Clara Shortridge Foltz Criminal Justice Center.

The 14th-floor inmate interview room was apparently selected because it was the only custodial setting in which male inmates, such as Keith Stewart and Johntae Jones, and female inmates, such as Amber Neal, could be in close proximity to one another such that they could engage in clear conversation, the filing said, referring to the plaintiffs.

The LAPD said in a statement Monday, “As a result of a kidnap investigation LAPD Detectives placed recording devices in a holding cell of the court with the intention of recording a specific inmate to inmate conversation. The action was legal and was supported by the District Attorney’s office.”

The Sheriff’s Department issued an apology to the public defender’s office on July 20, saying the recording had been “inadvertent” and that the department was taking “immediate steps” to ensure it would not happen again.

A spokeswoman for the district attorney’s office said the matter has been referred to its Justice System Integrity Division for review.

–

Filed Under: Crime/ Safety

21 comments for "Secret recording of inmates in L.A. courthouse being probed"

  1. John says

    August 3, 2018 at 2:34 pm

    Wow, Im pretty sure most Trump voters live and are from the AV.

    You guys learning Russian fast? Putin has some more talking points he needs you to spew on Monday.

    • Tim Scott says

      August 3, 2018 at 2:51 pm

      Well, at least locally. Imagine how it must be for people who live in deeply Trumpist states, where the “alternative facts” that we recognize as absurd are so widely accepted that disagreeing with them would be literally taking your life in your hands. I have a friend who nearly got run out of his town because he asked someone “You don’t really believe President Obama was born in Kenya, do you?” Turns out that at the place he was working he was the ONLY person who “didn’t know.”

    • Remember Seth Rich says

      August 4, 2018 at 6:25 pm

      “metrosexual non-threatening lisp”

      LMFAO Billy-Bart.

  2. Barry says

    August 2, 2018 at 7:05 pm

    The sun soon to set on attorney-client privilege, courtesy of special prosecutor Robt Muller, law enforcement feels itself bolstered with a newfound, renewed sense of self-entitlement with regard to eavesdropping.

    • Tim Scott says

      August 2, 2018 at 7:26 pm

      How many of you Trumpists are going to spew this same ridiculous BS and then fail to back it up when confronted by reality?

  3. Kate says

    August 2, 2018 at 6:09 pm

    There’s nobody we can trust. Thanks to special prosecutor Robert Muller, defecating up and down, all over your Founding Father’s constitution, attorney/client privilege in American is a foregone conclusion. Now, we can’t trust anybody.

    • William says

      August 2, 2018 at 6:57 pm

      Oh, Kate

      There are a number of exceptions to the privilege in most jurisdictions, chief among them:
      1.the communication was made in the presence of individuals who were neither attorney nor client, or was disclosed to such individuals,
      2.the communication was made for the purpose of committing a crime or tort,
      3.the client has waived the privilege (for example by publicly disclosing the communication).

      Quit watching fox news.

  4. Emily says

    August 1, 2018 at 7:33 pm

    Top 5 nuisances for American law enforcement (in any order you desire):

    1). your Founding Father’s 4th amendment –
    2). your Founding Father’s 5th amendment –
    3). your first amendment privilege –
    4). your right to a phone call (they don’t like that very much) –
    5). Attorney-client privilege (nothing law enforcement loves more than eavesdropping) –

    • CR says

      August 1, 2018 at 7:38 pm

      Only one thing law enforcement officers love more than corporal punishment: eavesdropping.

      • Alby says

        August 2, 2018 at 7:03 pm

        They also love doing cavity searches. That to them is what adult visual literature is to a 16 year old boy.

  5. Jaleen says

    July 31, 2018 at 3:27 pm

    … poof-gone, forever, courtesy of special investigator Robert Muller, attorney-client privilege in America is a dinosaur. Anything you say, to anybody, your attorney notwithstanding, may now be surreptitiously used against you. Moral of the story: keep your mouth shut. Never answer direct questions. Don’t say anything, to anyone. Ever.

    • Tim Scott says

      July 31, 2018 at 5:56 pm

      Oh BS. There has ALWAYS been limits on attorney client privilege, and Trump conspiring with his “attorney” to commit crimes was fully beyond those limits. If he didn’t put personal loyalty above actual qualifications and hire Cohen, who finished last in his class and couldn’t even spell privilege, much less explain it, he wouldn’t be in this particular mess.

      That has absolutely no connection or resemblance to this situation. You Trumpists with your ridiculous false equivalences turn my stomach.

    • Randy says

      August 1, 2018 at 7:18 pm

      Land of the free, home of the brave, once upon a time here in America, Americans enjoyed attorney-client privilege. But, the Muller precedent recently established, attorney-client privilege no longer exists. Like California, America slowly becomes more and more indicative, of Mexifornia. America’s best days well behind her, indeed.

      • Tim Scott says

        August 2, 2018 at 1:38 am

        The Cohen case didn’t establish any precedent. Many cases just like it came before it and were handled exactly the same way. You Trumpists sure are unaware of history, and law…most other things too, it seems.

      • Alexis says

        August 2, 2018 at 6:40 pm

        Barack Obama liked him.

    • Jeff says

      August 2, 2018 at 3:26 pm

      … no longer do you even merit automobile-motorist privilege! On board data recorders, surreptitiously tucked up inside your dash board, you never the wiser, they’ve even got your car turning you out, like a hundred dollar Craig’s list whore. Little did you realize, insurance companies send a guy out for a little visit to the body shop, while your car’s undergoing repair. And, they download everything (e.g., engine speed; yaw; gear selection; velocity and throttle position at time of impact, etc) for which to fact-check your story.

      • Tim Scott says

        August 2, 2018 at 7:32 pm

        If that happens the body shop gave permission and since the vehicle was in their possession they have that authority. Conclusion, you are using the wrong body shop.

        • Kevin says

          August 4, 2018 at 7:32 pm

          So, I park my car in the long term parking structure at LAX. My insurance company wants to check my mileage; might be cheating the system by falsifying yearly miles I drive. The owners of the parking structure gives permission; since the vehicle was in their possession they have that authority.Conclusion, I better stop falsifying my yearly miles I drive

  6. Alexis says

    July 31, 2018 at 10:09 am

    The recording had been “inadvertent!” Lawless LAPD.

    • Tim Scott says

      July 31, 2018 at 11:48 am

      Directed by a prosecutor, with cooperation of LASD. That’s three groups who are supposed to be enforcing the law, but aren’t committed to it.

      • Alexis says

        July 31, 2018 at 12:27 pm

        Breaking the law with impunity!

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