Prosecutors Taken Off Fla. Murder Case for Listening to Defendant's Phone Calls
Upholding a Florida judge’s disqualification of the entire Broward State Attorney’s Office from trying a murder case after two prosecutors listened to the defendant’s jailhouse phone calls to his lawyer, a state appeals court earlier this year dismissed a challenge by the Florida attorney general.
Now new prosecutors are being assigned from Palm Beach County to try the case, and Gov. Charlie Crist signed off on the change today, reports the Miami Herald.
As discussed in an earlier ABAJournal.com post, Circuit Judge Susan Lebow disqualified two Broward prosecutors in January. Citing the Law and Order television show, Lebow wrote in a January opinion that “anyone who has turned on the television in the last 10 years” knows attorney-client privilege makes a defendant’s phone calls to his lawyer confidential.
The state had argued that the defendant waived the privilege by agreeing to have his phone calls recorded. The two Broward prosecutors who listened in on the calls said they did so to investigate alleged threats the defendant was making against his wife.
Related coverage:
Associated Press: “Broward prosecutor removal upheld in murder case”
ABAJournal.com: “Does Jailhouse Pay Phone Recording Violate 6th Amendment?”
ABAJournal.com: “DA Can Check Jail Phone Calls for Case Information, Calif. Judge Rules”
