|
Getting your Trinity Audio player ready...
|
An Alameda County prosecutor has been placed on administrative leave after allegedly violating attorney-client privilege at Santa Rita Jail.
The deputy district attorney in question has not been named by officials but a source has confirmed her as Danielle London.
“It was a homicide case that was assigned to this prosecutor. Apparently the assistant prosecutor ordered that a conversation between the def and a defense expert to be taped. That act violated the attorney-client privilege,” said Teresa Drenick, spokeswoman for the Alameda County District Attorney’s Office.
Drenick said the matter was a personnel issue, which prohibits the name of the person involved from being released. She outlined a timeline of the events, explaining that the prosecutor arranged for the conversation to be taped on April 19, and the trial began the next Monday, April 23.
“On Tuesday, the next day, in open court the prosecutor disclosed to the defense attorney, whose name is Jo Ann Kingston and to the judge that this conversation had been recorded and provided a copy of the recording,” Drenick said. Kingston “promptly and properly objected to the taping and the judge ruled the tape would not be admitted.”
“The next morning the DA, Nancy O’Malley, learned of this taping,” Drenick continued. “Her response was swift and appropriate.. She immediately ordered the prosecutor to be removed from the case and to be placed on admin leave.”
Drenick said a new prosecutor, one who hadn’t heard the tape, was brought in to cover the case, and the tape was ordered sealed.
“By immediately removing her original prosecutor and by ording the tape itself to be sealed, the DA’s office was able to handle the case in a manner that protected the rights of the defendant, the victim’s family and the public,” she said.
I want to state loud and clear that I do not believe nor do I want the actions of the few to be representative of the ethical standards that each of us practices as a member of this office. I do believe that the members of this office, with very, very limited exceptions, operate with the highest professionalism and ethics,” O’Malley said in a statement. “It would be unfair and incorrect for the entire office to be tainted by the actions of the very few. That said, these actions trampled on the defendant’s constitutional rights. Any action that impinges upon a defendant’s rights will never be tolerated by this office.”
