http://www.sanluisobispo.com/183/story/459147.html
Sheriff's eavesdropping case: A tearful Pat
Hedges punished himself by docking his wages and
also told then-Chief Deputy Hoving that Hoving
‘may have been the victim of a crime’
Leslie Parrilla
County Sheriff Pat Hedges punished himself for
secretly taping a chief deputy in his office and
docked his wages for a day, in addition to
becoming tearful and offering to report his
actions to state investigators, according to
court filings in a federal civil rights case.
Before carrying out the self-imposed discipline,
Hedges told his then Chief Deputy Gary Hoving on
Aug. 17, 2007, that “You may have been the victim
of a crime (by me),” according to the records.
Hedges revealed to Hoving then that he and
Undersheriff Steve Bolts had installed a video
camera in the ceiling vent above HovingÂ’s desk
and taped a conversation between Hoving and Sgt. Jay Donovan on Oct. 13, 2006.
The taping is at the center of a federal lawsuit
filed by Hoving against Hedges, Bolts and San Luis Obispo County.
Hoving has asked the county for more than $1.25
million in damages, alleging his civil rights to
privacy and due process were violated. The
federal case is scheduled to go to trial at the end of this month.
Hedges and his attorney could not be reached for comment Tuesday.
HovingÂ’s attorney, Michael Stone of Pasadena,
declined to comment, saying he didnÂ’t want to
talk about documents that he believes are supposed to be sealed.
At issue is whether the taping is legal. It is
illegal in California to tape a conversation
unless all parties agree, a criminal
investigation is being conducted or the parties
do not have a reasonable expectation of privacy.
The sheriff has argued that he was investigating
Hoving after Donovan accused Hoving of
interfering with DonovanÂ’s investigation into
possible corruption in the narcotics unit.
Evidence was never found to support the
allegation against Hoving or about the narcotics unit.
The sheriff has since said he did nothing wrong.
But during an April 26 deposition, Hedges
recalled that on the day he told Hoving about the
taping, he believed that he had violated the law.
“Based upon information that I received from some
county attorneys Â… a crime may have been
committed by the taping of the conversation,” Hedges said in the deposition.
Clay Hall, a private attorney hired by the county
to investigate a grievance filed by Donovan, had
told the sheriff that the taping was illegal, according to the deposition.
Hall had learned about the tape because DonovanÂ’s grievance mentioned it.
The sheriff decided to tell Hoving about the taping before anyone else did.
Hoving said he was disappointed and hurt, according to HedgesÂ’ deposition.
The sheriff began to tear up and grabbed a
tissue, according to his deposition, partly
because of the situation and because the two had
been talking about HovingÂ’s son, who died in a motorcycle accident in 2001.
Hedges offered to contact the state Attorney
GeneralÂ’s Office to look into the taping, but
Hoving declined the offer, Hedges said. He also
offered to suspend himself for a day and reduce his pay by eight hours.
“I told him that I was in contact with Gere
Sibbach, the (county) auditor-controller, to see
about what the ability was to dock my pay as
a—well, I wouldn’t go into the reasons, but to
basically tell him that I was taking it serious.
He began packing up his briefcase and said he was
going to go home,” Hedges said.
Hedges did reduce his pay by one day, about $700, Sibbach confirmed.
Hedges said he believed his actions were legal at
the time, but that Hall led him to believe they were not.
“My understanding of the law was that it (the
taping) was permitted, that there were
allegations of criminal misconduct” against
Hoving, said Hedges during the deposition.
And although department policy prohibits secret
recordings of department personnel by others in
the agency, Hedges said during the deposition
that he made an exception for himself.
He did not consult anyone beforehand about
whether the taping was legal and did not tell
anyone he was conducting a criminal investigation, he said in the deposition.
The sheriff said he needed to determine
independently whether the allegation against Hoving by Donovan was true.
“One of them was not going to be truthful with
me. And so in order to have some independent
knowledge of which one was being truthful and
which one may have not been truthful, I had to go
about it in an independent manner,” Hedges explained in the deposition.
He also said he did not create any documents or
take any statements during the investigation,
which consisted solely of the taping.
Hedges said that he ended the criminal
investigation the day of the taping, after Bolts
reviewed the tape and found nothing to substantiate DonovanÂ’s claim.
Hedges has never viewed the recording, he said in the deposition.
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Received on Sat Mar 02 2024 - 00:57:20 CST