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| Man sues county over jail eavesdropping |
| By AP |
| Published: 11/01/2004 |
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A man acquitted of a home-invasion robbery filed suit last Thursday against Athens-Clarke County (Ga.) and several county officials, claiming his constitutional rights were violated by eavesdropping on jailhouse discussions with his attorney. The Superior Court suit filed by Christopher Wade alleges that Sheriff Ira Edwards, chief jailer Brett Hart and District Attorney Ken Mauldin and others "conspired with, aided and abetted each other by surreptitiously listening to privileged communications between attorney and client." The suit said a telephone monitoring system installed at the Clarke County Jail and remotely accessed by the district attorney's office violated state eavesdropping and wiretapping laws. Wade's lawyer, Jeffrey Rothman, said he planned to ask a jury for at least $3 million. County Attorney Bill Berryman declined to comment, saying he had not yet seen the lawsuit. Mauldin denied the allegations, saying it was without merit and politically motivated. The first-term Democratic incumbent has been criticized by Republican challenger Morris Wiltshire for having allowed his office to have remote access to the monitoring system. The phone-monitoring system, installed in February, has since been dismantled. Wade was awaiting trial on armed robbery charges and was represented by attorney Adrian Patrick when the eavesdropping occurred. The issue came to light in June after Rothman replaced Patrick as Wade's court-appointed attorney. Rothman asked to have Wade's case dismissed because he learned a prosecutor and police detective had listened in on Wade and Patrick as they discussed his case. Judge David Sweat did not dismiss the case but expressed concern about the potential for abuse of the phone system. Later, he and two other judges signed an order demanding that the sheriff's office fix the problem. The judges said the system "significantly burdens the inmate's Sixth Amendment right to counsel." Wade was later acquitted. Jail officials said the system was installed to prevent escape plots or other crimes by inmates. Mauldin said the judge "found there was no violation of anything." He said there was no policy condoning use of the system to eavesdrop on inmate conversations, and that the alleged breach of the attorney-client privilege had been an isolated incident involving an assistant, who soon after left the district attorney's office for private practice. |
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