I know at first this does seem like a stretch even for Means but IMHO I believe SOME of this is concerning. I would hate to see ANYTHING be given into the hands of the Defense that allows for an appeal later
Numerous post-conviction advocacy groups have urged prosecutors in multiple states that there needs to be some level of accommodations made. A district in California, earlier on in the pandemic, resorted to releasing defendants who are facing misdemeanor charges or drug-related felony charges as long as the person is not considered a risk to public safety after realizing defense counsel was facing huge conflicts in trying to follow COVID guidelines and precautions set by jail vs. their needs to meet with their clients. I also remember, despite the actual details not being at all accurate to what Means alleged, the jail did admit they had indeed recorded a few of their meetings inadvertently, these were not kept or reviewed and were deleted by the detention center staff as soon as it was discovered but it did happen. Now he’s allegedly being forced to only meet in an area which has constant video and audio monitoring and/or recording and he is able to bring up the same concerns again. It seems to me, if they’re wearing masks, socially distant, and can use the normal meeting room why not let them? Continuing to deny that of him just allows Defense to file for motions, have more hearings, slow down this already painfully slow process on the pursuit of justice. This doesn’t even touch upon his allegations that at some times he was not even able to meet with his client period. Can the existing meeting room be set up in such a way where COVID precautions can still be followed and so that they can meet as close to as “normal” as possible? Or does the State want to continue denying that and allow the defense to continue slow down the clock, eat up more court time, and give them more to continue to try and use to
Bolster their arguments that they cannot get a fair trial?
an interesting piece highlighting this dilemma that has been, obviously, hitting every state in different ways
Coronavirus Leaves Defense Attorneys Torn Between Visiting Their Jailed Clients And Spreading The Illness - The Appeal
adding some other reading, too, from
https://www.sog.unc.edu/sites/www.sog.unc.edu/files/reports/AOJB 2020-04.pdf
“In one such case, Banks v. Booth, pretrial detainees in the District of Columbia filed a class action suit that, among other things, challenged measures that deprived them of access to telephones and confidential communication with their attorneys while in isolation.13 In response, the court held that it could “not allow constitutional violations to continue simply because a remedy would involve intrusion into the realm of prison administration,”14 and
it granted a restraining order that directed the facility to provide “access to confidential, unmoored legal calls of a duration sufficient to discuss legal matters.”15
Other courts have been more skeptical about the adequacy of telephonic and even video communication. In United States v. Davis, the court found phones and other pandemic “alternatives to in-person meetings,” such as FaceTime and Zoom, to be “no substitute for a face-to-face, in-person, contact meeting between an attorney and his client.”16 The court was considering and ultimately denied a government motion for pretrial detention, finding that the pandemic and its resulting restrictions on jail access continued to “pose myriad challenges for the lawyer, the defendant, and the attorney-client relationship.”17” (end quoted section)