Pa. Plans Law to Protect Prosecutors' Cell Phone Records
Legislators in Pennsylvania are scurrying to close a loophole in state law that recently allowed a cell phone provider to give prosecutors’ personal records to a defense lawyer in a criminal case, even though Sprint Nextel apparently has promised not to do so again.
“Sprint Nextel handed over the records for the Dauphin County district attorney, his chief deputy, and two troopers assigned to an organized-crime unit without telling the prosecutors or police,” recounts the Philadelphia Inquirer. Other cell phone providers say it has been their practice to notify officials first.
The records were reportedly obtained by defense attorney Sal Cognetti Jr., who is representing a Roman Catholic priest, the Rev. Joseph Sica, in a criminal case. It concerns alleged perjury by Sica and Louis DeNaples, who operates Mount Airy Casino Resort, about organized-crime associations.
