Judge restricts access to inmate-lawyer chats

A Nassau County Supreme Court judge has temporarily banned the district attorney’s office from obtaining recorded conversations between inmates at the Nassau County Correctional Center and their lawyers without a court order — a practice that D.A. representatives said is illegal in most circumstances, and they do not participate in anyway.

Judge Robert Bruno delivered the ruling on Oct. 21 in response to a lawsuit filed by a Mineola-based attorney against the D.A’s office on behalf of three inmates, alleging that the D.A.’s office regularly obtains privileged conversations from the jail.

The court ruling prohibits District Attorney Kathleen Rice, or any other members of the D.A’s office, from requesting privileged inmate-attorney conversations from Sheriff Michael Sposato, without permission from a judge.

Daniel Raiser, the attorney who filed the lawsuit, said the origin of his complaint dates back to last year, when he alleges Rice attempted to enter privileged communications between him and one of his clients, an inmate at the jail, into evidence during a trial.

Raiser sent a letter to Rice’s office on Oct. 15, 2013, voicing his concerns. A response on Nov. 6 by Chief Assistant District Attorney Madeline Singas to Raiser detailed the jail’s protocols for recording inmate conversations. Singas also said in the letter that attorney-inmate confidentiality does not apply under state law when the purpose of the dialogue is to further an ongoing crime or fraudulent act.

A statement released by the D.A’s office said that the practice of law enforcement officials requesting recorded jailhouse conversations is a “longstanding and widely accepted investigative tool” that helps uncover criminal schemes such as witness intimidation and false alibis. The statement also said that prosecutors are trained never to listen to privileged, confidential calls.