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IN: ADA's listening to attorney-client jail calls did not violate Sixth Amendment where they knew they were being listened to and there was no prejudice

By John Wesley Hall, Jr.

The defendant was in jail on a murder charge, and the ADA listened to nine telephone conversations concerned that there might be an effort to intimidate witnesses with the lawyer. Nothing was found so no further phone conversations were listened to. When the defense discovered it during a sidebar conference in the murder trial, he claimed a breach of the attorney-client privilege and the Sixth Amendment. The lawyer and client knew they were being recorded and there was no violation of privilege. Bassett v. State (Ind. October 28, 2008): However, communications made during Bassett’s telephone calls from the jail were not confidential and therefore were not privileged. The jail’s automated system warned Bassett every time he made an outgoing call to Thomas that their conversation was uobject to being recorded...continue to full post

Full post as published by Law Of Criminal Defense on November 22, 2008 (boomark / email).