Updated 1/28/19 10:35 a.m.
JUDGE ORDERS MURDER TRIAL TO CONTINUE AFTER SHERIFF MISCONDUCT
Accused of the murder of his former wife, 44-year-old former Marine Charles Leppan was in the Joshua Tree Court on Friday for a hearing to consider a motion to dismiss for misconduct. The motion came on the heels of a bombshell disclosure January 18 that, while incarcerated, calls between the defendant and the public defender’s office in Joshua Tree were illegally monitored and recorded by the Sheriff’s Department. A clear violation of the rules of attorney-client privilege, the monitoring has put the long-running murder case at risk of dismissal. Leppan is accused of the 2004 murder of his ex-wife, Jean Leppan, and burying her body in a shallow grave in Wonder Valley. According to the Sheriff’s Department, a 2015 change of phone service failed to place the public defender’s phone number on a do-not-record list. The error apparently went unnoticed through 2016. A jury trial for the murder has been on the court’s calendar for this morning, but that appears in jeopardy while Judge Rodney Cortez considers the legal rights of the defendant. Z107.7 will bring you any updates on this case as they occur today.
