STERLING GLENN BROWN, Petitioner, v. MONTANA SEVENTH JUDICIAL DISTRICT COURT, PRAIRIE COUNTY, HON. JESSICA T. FEHR, Presiding, Respondent

STERLING GLENN BROWN, Petitioner, v. MONTANA SEVENTH JUDICIAL DISTRICT COURT, PRAIRIE COUNTY, HON. JESSICA T. FEHR, Presiding, Respondent. Oral Argument is set for Thursday, May 21, 2026, at 9:30 a.m. in the Courtroom of the Montana Supreme Court, Joseph P. Mazurek Justice Building, in Helena. VIDEO After Brown was charged with deliberate homicide and arson, he was held in the Dawson County Correctional Facility for several months. At DCCF, Brown made numerous phone calls to his defense counsel on the facility’s inmate phone line, rather than on a separate nonrecorded line that was available for attorney-client calls. Approximately 68 of those calls were recorded, and portions of 20 calls were listened to by law enforcement officers and DCCF personnel. Two Prairie County law enforcement officers who were part of the investigative team for the alleged offenses listened to portions of the calls, but both officers testified they discontinued listening when they recognized the calls were attorney-client. At least one DCCF staff member knowingly listened to attorney-client calls but testified she did not share anything she heard with anyone else. DCCF staff also testified that some of Brown’s legal mail was opened because the envelopes were not marked as legal mail in accordance with DCCF’s policies, but staff only scanned the mail and did not discuss its contents. Brown moved to dismiss the case due to invasions of attorney-client privilege. After a four-day evidentiary hearing, the District Court denied Brown’s motion to dismiss. But it concluded that, even if none of the information heard in the calls or read in the legal mail was disseminated, the law enforcement officers were part of the investigative team and all individuals involved may have learned information that put Brown at a disadvantage. The court suppressed the recordings and the testimony of all individuals who listened to the calls or scanned the mail. Brown then petitioned the Montana Supreme Court for a writ of supervisory control, arguing the District Court’s remedy was insufficient given the seriousness of the violation of attorney-client privilege. Brown argues this Court should order his criminal case dismissed.