County Official Says She Made Jailhouse Visits to Onetime Lover 'to Provide Pro Bono Advice'
Questions are being raised by a California newspaper about visits made to the Santa Clara County Jail by Alameda County Supervisor Nadia Lockyer.
Lockyer, who is a Loyola Law School graduate but rarely practices, used her attorney privileges when she signed in to see her onetime lover, Stephen Chikhani, twice last year, thus gaining more time and more privacy for the visits, the Bay Area News Group reports.
She says she was not involved with him at that time and explained that the visits were for legitimate legal purposes even though she was not his attorney of record. “His dad asked me to provide pro bono advice. I do it all the time,” Lockyer said.
Chikhani is currently being investigated on accusations that he assaulted Lockyer in a hotel room in February. Because Locker is a former county prosecutor, the state department of justice is handling the case.
Chikhani and his father could not be reached yesterday by the Bay Area News Group for comment.
Lockyer said in a written statement that she took responsibility for her mistakes and the amends she must make and apologized to those close to her. She said she is happy to back at work after a month in rehab for an unspecified addiction and thanked well-wishers for their support.
