The defendants in this case are charged with conspiracy to traffic in contraband, including methamphetamine, cigarettes and cellular phones inside the Corrections Corporation of America (“CCA”) Leavenworth Detention Center. The defendants include detainees at CCA, family members or associates of these detainees who operated outside of CCA, and one prison guard employed by CCA. During the course of discovery in this case, allegations arose that the Government had obtained video recordings of attorney-client communications as well as audio recordings of calls from inmates at CCA to their attorneys, and that these recordings had been disseminated in discovery.  The Court held three hearings and the parties submitted several rounds of briefing concerning the privilege issues related to these recordings.  At the first hearing, the Federal Public Defender's Office (“FPD”) entered its appearance on behalf of clients who were allegedly included in the recordings.  During the hearing, the parties jointly moved for the appointment of a special master to review the recordings and determine whether they contained privileged material. On October 11, 2016, the Court issued an Order appointing David R. Cohen as special master in this case. The Court first directed Mr. Cohen to conduct an assessment of the feasibility of identifying and excising privileged and confidential communications contained within the audio and video recordings.  Second, the Court explained that after reviewing the feasibility report it would determine whether Mr. Cohen should proceed with identifying and excising privileged communications and potentially performing other functions related to the issues in this case.

Mr. Cohen issued an initial feasibility report and the Court directed him to proceed to Phase II of his appointment, which involved identifying and excising privileged communications within the video and audio recordings. Mr. Cohen issued several reports on these matters, to which the Government and the FPD each responded.

On May 17, 2017, the Court issued a Memorandum and Order directing Mr. Cohen to proceed to a Phase III investigation of the Government's conduct relative to all recordings it obtained in connection with the CCA investigation. This web page provides a brief summary of the case along with selected documents filed by the parties.  To view all of the records in the case, please use the court's Public Access to Court Electronic Records (PACER).  For more information on PACER and how to access court records, including court transcripts, CLICK HERE.