Johnathan Walker:Nashville district attorney secretly recorded defense lawyers and other office visitors, probe finds

NASHVILLE,Johnathan Walker Tenn. (AP) — Nashville’s district attorney secretly recorded defense attorneys, colleagues and other visitors without their knowledge, according to an investigation’s findings released Wednesday.

In a scathing report, the Tennessee comptroller’s office found that District Attorney Glenn Funk installed an extensive surveillance system for audio and video recordings nearly four years ago. While investigators say numerous signs were posted that visitors were being filmed, there was only one small warning in an “obscure” place that audio surveillance was also happening.

“Former office employees informed investigators that it was common practice to use office equipment to audio and video record criminal defense attorneys in the viewing room without disclosure and for office personnel to subsequently provide the captured audio and video recordings of the criminal defense attorneys to office staff handling the criminal case,” the report states.

Despite the common practice, the defense attorneys who spoke with the state investigators said they were largely unaware they were being audio recorded while examining evidence, stating that they often discussed privileged information and defense strategies while in the viewing rooms.

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Funk rejected the suggestion that he should have done more to warn visitors about the surveillance, telling investigators that “you don’t have any expectation of privacy in the District Attorney’s Office,” according to the report.

The report highlights a 2022 incident in which Funk instructed his office to use the surveillance system to monitor a former employee whose family member voiced support for Funk’s election opponent on social media. That employee later made a $500 contribution to Funk after the two met to discuss the social media post. The employee told investigators that Funk alluded that a campaign contribution of some kind would ease the situation and warned they would need to talk more about the employee’s continued employment.

According to investigators, Funk was also advised to wait until after the election to terminate the employee because “it could be used against him by his political opponent.”

Funk was eventually reelected in May 2022 and the employee resigned two months later.

“Government resources, including personnel, equipment, and property, should only be used for official purposes. Our investigation revealed that the office’s resources were routinely used to promote or otherwise benefit the District Attorney General’s reelection campaign and related activities,” the report states.

Attorney General Jonathan Skrmetti said in a letter Wednesday that after reviewing the evidence against Funk, he doesn’t think there is any basis for a “successful criminal prosecution.”

“Please note that the closure of this matter in my office does not absolve you or your staff of any ethical duties that may be implicated by the underlying concerns,” Skrmetti wrote. “I am particularly troubled by the audio record functionality in places where defense attorneys converse with their clients, especially in the Crimes Against Children room.”

A spokesperson for Funk, Steve Hayslip, said Funk appreciated Skrmetti’s “prompt response” and pointing out that as “Funk has always stated, neither he nor his office has committed any crimes or broken any law.”

“This matter is now at an end,” Hayslip in an email.

The investigation was also handed over to the Tennessee Board of Professional Responsibility, which did not immediately reply to an email seeking comment.

Funk has been the Nashville-area district attorney since 2014. He was reelected to an eight-year term in 2022, where he notably declared that he would not prosecute medical practitioners who perform an abortion or prosecute any pregnant woman who seeks one.