Deputy faces felony charges
OAKLAND » An Alameda County sheriff’s deputy who was filmed telling a coworker he secretly recorded private attorney-client conversations of four juveniles is now facing four felony charges, prosecutors said Wednesday.
Sgt. James Russell, a 20year veteran, recorded the juveniles in an interview room at the Eden Township sheriff’s substation on March 15 and has been charged with four counts of eavesdropping for the recording of confidential communications, the District Attorney’s Office said.
“Every one of us working in the justice system must be held to the highest of standards when it comes to protecting an individual’s constitutional rights, including the sacrosanct right to privileged communication between a client and his or her attorney,” District Attorney Nancy O’Malley said in a statement.
Russell, who earlier was reassigned to desk duty, was placed on paid suspension just prior to the filing of criminal charges, sheriff’s spokesman Sgt. Ray Kelly said. The DA’s Office is reviewing all cases involving the sheriff’s office and juvenile suspects dating back to Jan. 1.
The criminal case against the four suspected juveniles has also been dropped.
“I don’t think the sergeant realized the gravity of what he was doing, but he certainly should have,” said Sgt. J.D. Nelson, another sheriff’s spokesman.
A sheriff’s internal affairs investigation is not yet completed and the sheriff’s office continues to cooperate with the DA’s criminal case and review of juvenile cases, Kelly said.
“We in law enforcement are held to a higher standard; we enforce the law, and this shows we too are accountable to the law when allegations such as these arise,” Kelly said. “The public must trust that officers don’t have immunity from when they commit crimes.”
Alameda County Public Defender Brendon Woods said in a statement Wednesday that he hopes these charges will send a message to other law enforcement and deter them from violating attorney-client privilege.
“These felony charges are completely appropriate, and we’re glad the district attorney is taking this seriously,” Woods said. “In order for us to represent our clients effectively, our clients have to know that they can trust us, and that what they tell us will remain confidential and that law enforcement is not secretly listening to our conversations.”
The incident that led to the alleged eavesdropping began on March 15, when sheriff’s deputies responded to a call about an attempted robbery at the Lake Chabot Public Market in Castro Valley, according to court documents.
With a description of the vehicle involved in the attempted robbery from witnesses, sheriff’s deputies chased a car with four people inside. The car crashed, and four teens inside the car were arrested.
The four suspects were taken to the Eden Township substation, located on Foothill Boulevard, where an Alameda County sheriff’s deputy contacted the Public Defender’s Office so that the teenagers could consult with an attorney before being interviewed, according to the probable cause declaration.
Russell’s body camera, which was on, documents him briefing the deputy public defender who responded. One of the teens was placed in an interview room, and Russell can be seen and heard telling a sheriff’s lieutenant that the public defender will be talking to the teen.
It’s then that the lieutenant asks Russell if he records such meetings, and Russell confirms that
he does. Such interviews are privileged communications.
In the footage that was made public in August, Russell appears to tell Lt. Timothy Schellenberg he had been making similar recordings since Jan. 1, when a new law took effect requiring crime suspects 15 years old and younger to consult with an attorney before being interrogated by police.
At one point, Schellenberg asks, “How is that not privileged information?” and Russell responds that it is privileged conversation, just not admissible in court, according to the body-worn camera footage.
Russell also says, “What if he tries to molest them in there? Then we’re on the hook.”
He continues by saying that “they’ll just edit the tape” from the time the teen was put in the room, to the time he “lawyered up.”
“It might have been recorded him talking, whatever he might have said is just privileged and it’s not admissible in court,” Russell said.
In a search warrant obtained by Alameda County District Attorney Inspector Blair Alexander, the inspector found several DVD recordings containing “confidential attorney/ client communications between a (deputy public defender) and all four juveniles.”
Russell is expected to be arraigned Oct. 17 at the Wiley Manuel Courthouse in Oakland.
Russell is the sixth former or current Alameda County sheriff’s deputy to be charged criminally within the past year. Four deputies, Justin Linn, Erik McDermott, Stephen Sarcos and Sarah Krause, were charged last year with alleged inmate abuse of facilitating the throwing of feces at inmates at Santa Rita Jail. The four are currently awaiting a preliminary hearing, where a judge will determine if they should be held to answer on their charges.
Deputy Joseph Bailey was held to answer on his charges last month, after allegedly facilitating an attack against an inmate by six other inmates. Witnesses said he told them he “wanted to see blood” and to make it appear as if the inmate fell in the shower.
In November 2015, Alameda deputies brutally beat Stanislav Petrov, striking him some 40 times with batons in a San Francisco alleyway after a police chase. It led to the firing of three deputies, including Luis Santamaria and Paul Wieber. In March, a judge found there is enough against the deputies to move forward with a criminal trial on felony charges. The third deputy, Shawn Osborne, was fired for allegedly stealing a gold chain from Petrov and using it to bribe two homeless people who witnessed the beating.
Petrov suffered broken bones, head trauma and permanent disability and disfigurement. His civil rights lawsuit against Alameda County resulted in a $5.5 million settlement. Four months after the alleyway attack, the FBI raided Petrov’s home and arrested him on weapons and drug charges.