Exclusive: Sacramento sheriff recorded ‘confidential’ attorney-client jail visits

In the two years since members of the Aryan Brotherhood prison gang were indicted in a sweeping crackdown on murders, drug sales and cellphones in prison, lawyers for the accused inmates have complained that their visits with clients in the Sacramento County Main Jail have afforded them virtually no privacy.

Turns out they were right.

The Sacramento County Sheriff’s Office says it inadvertently video recorded 14 supposedly confidential attorney-client visits between April 29 and May 19, 2020, taking video of visits between attorneys, paralegals and Aryan Brotherhood defendants, as well as others.

The list of videos is contained a court filing that includes a June 29, 2020, Sheriff’s Office memo from Lt. Shaun Hampton describing how the incidents occurred, and noting that the recordings did not capture any audio or provide any images of attorneys’ work product that could be read.

“During a cursory review of the video, it was confirmed there was no audio as part of these videos,” Hampton wrote in his memo to Capt. Charles Meeks. “However, these cameras do have the option to record audio, but the Sheriff’s Office does not enable this feature.

“It was confirmed that the work product being presented to the defendants was not able to be read. It was also confirmed that none of these cameras have the ability to pan, tilt or zoom.”

But the Sheriff’s Office’s assurances have done little to assuage concerns by some of the individuals who were unknowingly recorded, including defense attorney Joseph Farina, whose May 8, 2020, visit with convicted NorCal Rapist Roy Charles Waller was recorded as they were preparing for trial.

“One of my visits with him was ‘accidentally’ recorded,” Farina said. Thursday. “We got a memo from the county about it.”

Farina said he did not pursue the matter, but added that he was skeptical about the claims that the recordings were accidental and that they did not include audio.

“If you believe that, I’ve got a bridge in Brooklyn for you,” Farina said. “I don’t believe in accidental. I don’t believe in coincidental.

“If it happens again, then we’re going to have a big problem.”

The list of videos was included in a filing Monday in federal court in Sacramento by accused Aryan Brotherhood member Patrick “Big Pat” Brady, who is suing Sheriff Scott Jones over the conditions in which he is being held inside the Main Jail downtown.

Brady, who is accused along with co-defendant Jason Corbett of killing a High Desert State Prison inmate in July 2018, had four visits with attorney John Manning and paralegal Ashley Benney recorded between May 5, 2020, and May 19, 2020, court papers say.

Brady filed the Sheriff’s Office memo in court as part of his lawsuit, writing that he was concerned the memo is “in jeopardy of coming up ‘missing’ or ‘destroyed.’”

“Plaintiff asks the court to enter into public record these documents in an effort to preserve and protect the authenticity of their existence for future litigation in this case,” Brady wrote in a handwritten “request for protection of documents.”

Sheriff’s Office spokesman Sgt. Rodney Grassmann declined to comment on pending litigation, and said Hampton’s memo would serve “as the basis for our response.”

Hampton’s memo said the jail is in the process of phasing in upgrades to cameras inside the jail and that in April 2020 the project reached visitation booth Q on the jail’s eighth floor.

“According to our records, these cameras went operational on April 29, 2020,” Hampton wrote. “I think it is important to mention that when these cameras were installed they had not yet been fully enabled for access to all personnel, but only a select few (approximately five employees).

“These employees are charged with managing the overall system, maintaining the equipment, and conducting investigations.”

Hampton wrote that once he discovered the recordings had been made he began to investigate and discovered that a laminated sign on the door to the booth that indicated it was no longer to be used for confidential attorney visits had been removed.

“We found this signage was removed, and are unable to determine when it was removed or who removed it,” he wrote.

Corbett attorney Kresta Daly is not on the list of lawyers who had their visits recorded, but she has been waging a fight over what she contends are visiting condition in the jail that do not provide any privacy.

“Everybody who’s in the jail has a constitutional right to a confidential visit with their attorney,” Daly said Thursday. “And there’s not a single person in that jail who has that right now.”

In a motion filed earlier this month, Daly argued that the defendants are given access to two wall-mounted telephones to speak with attorneys, but that there is no possibility of a confidential discussion.

“Everything that an inmate says to his attorney during a call using one of the telephones in the 400 pod on 8 West can be heard by every other inmate on the unit,” she wrote.

“Mr. Corbett needs, and is constitutionally entitled to, confidential access to his attorneys and defense team,” Daly wrote. ‘Mr. Corbett potentially faces the death penalty...”

The issue over whether the jail provides appropriate confidential settings for attorneys is currently pending before U.S. District Judge Kimberly J. Mueller, who has directed Daly to meet with Assistant U.S. Attorney Jason Hitt to discuss whether there are available spaces in the federal building where attorneys may be able to conduct confidential visits with their clients.

This story was originally published June 17, 2021 at 1:30 PM.