According to local media, Davidson County District Attorney Glenn Funk routinely violates constitutional rights by secretly recording meetings between defendants and their attorneys, as well as other visitors to Funk’s offices. The reports are based on a scathing Tennessee comptroller’s office report, which was developed in conjunction with the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation.
Per The Tennessean:
The investigative report, conducted with the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation, found former DA employees told investigators it was “common practice” to turn on the audio and visual recording equipment before defense attorneys arrived and extract the recordings after they left to be provided to the prosecutors or office staff handling the criminal case.
The room in question must be used per district attorney policy by attorneys who wish to review evidence prior to criminal trials involving their clients.
Further, the newspaper states:
“Investigators spoke to numerous criminal defense attorneys, and they told investigators in part: they were unaware, and no office personnel had ever informed them that the viewing room was equipped with a microphone device capable of capturing their conversations or that they would be audio recorded in the viewing room while examining evidence in a criminal case,” the report states. “Privileged information among themselves was often discussed, including statements made by their clients along with defense strategies, and they said that they would not have stayed in the viewing room had they known that the room was equipped with a microphone.”
Of particular concern is that the room in question often is used in cases involving crimes against children. Moreover, multiple media report that the information garnered from the surveillance system was routinely provided to prosecutors.
Even worse, corrupt attorney general Jonathan Skrmetti has declined to prosecute, saying the evidence would not support a successful prosecution. Skrmetti did say, however, that ethical issues remain.
In other words, the attorney general is kicking the can down the road.
Other misconduct
The Comptroller’s office report also found that Funk surveilled employees who did not support his re-election, and used government resources to support his candidacy in violation of state law.
Our take
To be clear, no one on the Anglican Watch team is a licensed attorney in Tennessee. But we are shocked and appalled at this behavior. Not only is the behavior in question an egregious violation of federal wiretap statutes, but it violates the constitutional right of attorney/client privilege, as well as constitutional privacy rights.
Moreover, if it can be shown that the illegal surveillance of attorneys produced information used against defendants at trial, it’s a safe bet we will see multiple efforts to overturn convictions based on illegal search and seizures. And because, as stated earlier, many of the cases affected will be child sex crimes, some of the most egregious defendants may wind up back on the streets due to Funk’s stupidity and unethical behavior.
Relatedly, it is profoundly difficult for victims of child sex abuse to come forward, even under the best of circumstances. Thus, Funk’s conduct further disincentivizes child abuse victims, who may not want details of their abuse shared with random third parties.
Still worse is Skrmetti’s behavior. A district attorney corrupts what could be hundreds of cases, and Skrmetti says he can’t prosecute? Any competent attorney general could and would prosecute, and the only reason we can imagine he would take a pass is that Skrmetti is afraid his own corruption will come to light.
As for Funk’s assertions that there is no expectation of privacy anywhere in the district attorney’s office, we’re calling BS on that claim. First, federal law prohibits recording conversations without the consent of one of the parties, as does Tennessee law. In many instances, no consenting party was in the room during recording. Second, in the event one accidentally records a privileged conversation, there is a requirement that the conversation be discarded. One cannot knowingly and intentionally forward it to prosecutors. Thus, Funk’s behavior involves going beyond passive recording, but instead involved knowingly using information obtained via surveillance to contaminate the judicial process.
Speaking of corruption, let’s keep in mind that Skrmetti still has taken no action on Aaron Solomon’s alleged insurance fraud, when he purportedly totaled Grant Solomon’s truck without justification. Nor are we seeing any sign that the state is taking the abuse of Grant and Gracie Solomon seriously, or the failure of Grace Christian Academy to report the abuse. For the record, we have nothing but contempt for anyone who will not act to protect a child, and that includes Jonathan Skrmetti. And the fact that Skrmetti is a former civil rights attorney is nothing short of laughable.
The feds need to get involved
When, as here, we see a massive breakdown of good government, including an attorney general who is more worried about grandstanding on social issues than he is about addressing crime and child abuse, it’s time for the feds to get involved. We therefore urge readers, including defense counsel who may be affected by Glen Funk’s conduct, to forward the allegations to the FBI.
And for the record, while our political leanings are scarcely secret, we don’t give a red rat’s rear end that Funk is a Democrat. Indeed. Funk is trying the old fuzz-and-blur routine, even as he decrees the matter closed and announces that he does not intent to file criminal charges. That’s pretty rich, since it is Funk who should be facing criminal charges.
In fact, we are going to end this post here. Being the irritating sorts we are, we need to send information about Funk’s corruption to the FBI and other federal law enforcement agencies.
Photo: Screen cap of AG Jonathan Skrmetti
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