In a Joshua Tree courtroom Monday, faced with misconduct by the Sheriff’s Department, a judge ordered a trial to continue for a man who is accused of a 2004 murder. Charles Leppan has been incarcerated since October 2013 charged with the 2004 murder of his former wife Jean Leppan. The 44-
year-old former Marine was to begin a jury trial, but at a January 18 pre-trial hearing, it was learned that while incarcerated, his calls to his public defender were illegally monitored and recorded by the Sheriff’s Department. The discovery prompted a motion to dismiss by his legal counsel.
At the hearing, Judge Rodney Cortez said the recording of Leppan’s calls was a clear violation of his constitutional right to confer with his attorney in privacy. Cortez called the Sheriff Department’s actions as negligent—or perhaps even incompetent—but went on to say they were not intentional. Calling dismissal of the case a remedy of last resort, Cortez ordered the district attorney to disregard information learned from any and all calls made by Leppan. A new date of February 11 was set for a jury to hear the case.
