The San Francisco Sheriff’s Office announced Thursday that a breakdown in its internal process led to the recording of at least 20 confidential phone calls between incarcerated defendants and their public‑defender attorneys over the past two years. Those recordings were subsequently provided to prosecutors, a practice that violates California law protecting attorney‑client privilege.
What Went Wrong
Under normal procedures, the sheriff’s department records nearly every call made by people in county jails, but it maintains an exclusion list for numbers belonging to defense attorneys. According to spokesperson Tara Moriarty, emails containing those protected numbers were not correctly processed, leaving the numbers off the exclusion list and allowing the calls to be recorded.
“Attorney telephone numbers designated as confidential are placed on an exclusion list to prevent those calls from being recorded,” Moriarty wrote. “Our review identified an administrative breakdown in the process for updating that list.”
Discovery and Impact
The error came to light when a prosecutor, recognizing a public defender’s voice on a recording, alerted the defender’s office and stopped listening. In other instances, public defenders discovered recordings while reviewing documents the district attorney’s office had shared ahead of trial.
Deputy public defender Kwixuan Maloof, whose number was on the list since July 2025, said at least five of his client calls were recorded and handed to prosecutors, including three homicide cases where he discussed legal strategy. “I mean, the prosecutor cannot un‑hear what he heard,” Maloof said. “You cannot un‑ring that bell.”
Sheriff’s Response
The sheriff’s office has taken immediate steps to address the breach. Attorney‑phone lists have been revised and updated, and a freeze on the routine sharing of recordings was imposed on August 27. Since that date, district‑attorney staff must subpoena any recordings they wish to obtain.
Moriarty indicated that the department will evaluate new technology or administrative procedures to strengthen safeguards and prevent similar errors in the future. The office has also launched an internal investigation, which uncovered that at least 38 phone numbers linked to the public defender’s office were not properly registered.
Legal Context
California law classifies the intentional recording of a conversation between a person in custody and their lawyer as a felony. The sheriff’s department’s admission acknowledges the seriousness of the violation and its commitment to correcting the process.
Community Concerns
Public defenders warn that the breach has eroded trust among clients, many of whom now hesitate to speak with their attorneys over the phone. “They know the district attorney has been listening to our phone calls, even when I told them the district attorney can’t,” Maloof said.
While the sheriff’s office has not yet detailed long‑term policy changes, the prompt acknowledgment of the error and the immediate procedural adjustments demonstrate a willingness to protect constitutional rights and uphold the integrity of the criminal‑justice system.
Original reporting: Mission Local — read the source article.
