Prosecutor Is Put On Leave, Accused of Ordering Secret Jail Recording of Murder Defendant and Expert
A veteran prosecutor in Alameda County, Calif., has been put on administrative leave while a potential violation of attorney-client privilege is probed.
It was revealed in a court hearing that Danielle London, who has been with the office a decade, had ordered sheriff’s deputies to secretly record a jailhouse conversation between a murder defendant and a defense expert, the Oakland Tribune reports.
“This incident has placed the public defender’s office on red alert,” said Public Defender Diane Bellas. “It is a felony to record the conversation between an inmate and her attorney or others who are presumed to maintain confidentiality on the inmate’s behalf.”
Attorney Jo Ann Kingston represents the murder defendant and is calling for a probe of the sheriff’s department as well as London.
“It’s so blatantly illegal it’s beyond pale,” said Kingston, who at the same time stated that she thought London must wrongly have believed that she could legally record the conversation. “I feel strongly that there should be an independent investigation done.”
The article doesn’t include any comment from London.
