AG responds to claim of attorney-client privilege violation

An assistant attorney general claims she hasn’t even seen the video of a mid-Missouri prosecutor speaking with his attorney shortly after his arrest.

Shayne Healea, the elected prosecutor for Moniteau County, asked Judge Fredrick Tucker to throw out four counts of second-degree assault and one count of leaving the scene of an accident, all felonies, due to alleged violations of attorney-client privilege. Healea was arrested in Columbia in 2014, suspected of backing his truck into an Addison’s restaurant window while drunk, injuring four people inside with shattered glass.

Assistant Attorney General Julie Tolle, the special prosecutor for the case, filed her response Monday in Shelby County court, where the trial was moved. Tolle claims she received a copy of Healea speaking with his attorney, Shane Farrow, while in a police holding cell the night of October 25. The DVD, labeled “building video copy #1,” was given to Tollie on November 17, along with police dashboard camera footage and surveillance from Boone County National Bank. Tolle gave those videos, including that conversation, to Healea’s defense that next month.

However, Tolle claims that conversation has not played a part in the investigation or prosecution. In fact, she says she’s never watched it.

“The state was in no way influenced in the charging and prosecution of the case by the defendant’s phone call to his attorney,” Tolle wrote. “The charges against the defendant were based solely on the defendant’s conduct on October 25, 2014.”

Addison’s customers stopped Healea’s truck near the Tiger Hotel that night after the crash, as witnesses say he was leaving. Tolle claims officers believed he was drunk due to “glassy and bloodshot eyes” and the smell of alcohol on his breath. Healea refused a breath and blood test there, and officers collected his blood through a search warrant that night.

It was only when Farrow asked for the charges to be thrown out on October 3, three weeks before trial, that Tolle became aware of the existence of a recorded phone call.

“Until this moment, the State was unaware of the existence of the video because the State had not viewed the DVD labeled ‘building video copy #1,'” she wrote.

The filing also claims the arresting officer did not view the recording, nor watched the call as it occured through the surveillance system.

Tucker appointed retired judge Hadley Grimm as “special master” to adjudicate the issue. A hearing date has not been set.