Prosecutor Facing Tough Questions In Potential Violations

The Yakima County Prosecutor's office is once again facing questions about potentially violating an inmate's rights when they spoke with their attorney.

A Superior Court Judge has assigned Jeff Sullivan to investigate whether or not Daniel Woolem's phone calls to his attorney were illegally listened to by officials. Sullivan previously was assigned to investigate a similar claim in the case involving Kevin Harper.

The Yakima Herald reports that Woolem's current attorney Ricardo Hernandez is asking that all charges be dropped due to the violation of the attorney-client privilege.

The Herald says that court documents say that the phone calls were accessed under the user names of Prosecuting Attorney Jim Hagarty and sheriff's detective Robert Tucker. Hagarty states that he lends his user name and password to several members of his staff so it would be impossible to know person was responsible.

All phone calls by inmates are recorded and there is a warning that states that before a call is connected.