DA Can Check Jail Phone Calls for Case Information, Calif. Judge Rules
A California judge has rejected a Sixth Amendment challenge to the local district attorney’s practice of data-mining phone calls from county jails for information about criminal cases.
Citing state supreme court precedent, Contra Costa Superior Court Judge Charles Treat said, after hearing arguments yesterday morning, that recording jailhouse calls for future review is akin to other forms of eavesdropping that are clearly permitted, such as a deputy’s overhearing a cellblock conversation, according to the Contra Costa Times.
Public Defender David Coleman had argued that it is a violation of the Sixth Amendment right to counsel, as well as improper, under legal ethics rules prohibiting contact with a defendant known to be represented by a lawyer, to eavesdrop on the calls. In this case, the calls are being digitally recorded, and can then be computer-searched for incriminating information
An appeal is planned.
As discussed in an earlier ABAJournal.com post, the Sixth Amendment argument is unusual; routinely, telephone monitoring is challenged under the Fourth Amendment.
