Prosecutors in Bundy case recorded attorney-client jail phone calls

By Maxine Bernstein

Defense lawyers in the Bunkerville standoff case were stunned last month to receive recorded phone calls between co-defendant Blaine Cooper and his Oregon defense lawyer from federal prosecutors who had previously denied possessing any attorney-client privileged jailhouse calls. Prosecutors shared 12 recorded jail phone calls between Cooper and Portland lawyer Krista Shipsey with defense lawyers for co-defendants Cliven Bundy, his two sons and Ryan Payne, who are now on trial in federal court in Las Vegas. The recordings captured calls Cooper made to his lawyer while in custody at the Las Vegas City jail between Jan. 22 and Feb. 17, 2017. The conversations related to the Bunkerville case, including discussions about preparation, the criminal allegations and strategy, according to court documents. "I didn't know, nor did Blaine,'' Shipsey said in a recent interview. "It's extremely concerning. We were assured those conversations would be confidential.''Assistant federal public defenders Brenda Weksler and Ryan Norwood, who represent Payne in Nevada, have called for the dismissal of the case, alleging the prosecution has acted with "flagrant misconduct,'' based on the "government's misrepresentations regarding the most sacrosanct of client communications.'' Shipsey also last week asked to review copies of the recorded calls with her client that were shared. "It is negligence at its best and deliberate indifference to a defendant's substantive rights at its worst,'' Weksler and Norwood wrote in motions to the court...more