Alaska Employment Law

Right to counsel: A criminal defendant claimed that the Anchorage Correctional Complex had violated his right to counsel by opening his mail outside his presence, and asked for dismissal of the underlying charges.  The ACC admitted doing so three times, inadvertently it said.  U. S. Magistrate Judge John Roberts has now denied the defendant’s request for an evidentiary hearing and motion to dismiss, because the defendant showed neither outrageous conduct by the government, nor actual and substantial prejudice to the defendant’s attorney-client relationship.   U. S. v. Wade, 2009 WL 5208316 (D.Alaska Dec. 30, 2009)

Qualified immunity re passenger search evidence:  Visiting U. S. District Judge Robert Bryan has dismissed a Section 1983 claim against a State of Alaska probation officer who authorized on-the-scene police officers to conduct a vehicle search of a passenger-probationer.  The police then used the results to press criminal charges against the driver, who had earlier refused permission for a vehicle search.  The driver filed the Section 1983 claim.  Bryan held that the probation officer was entitled to qualified immunity because the driver failed to show clearly-established law holding that 1) the PO would have violated the driver’s constitutional rights by authorizing, or directing officers to conduct, a search pursuant to the terms of the passenger’s probation; or 2) the PO was required to take steps to ascertain whether the initial traffic stop of plaintiff was a valid constitutional stop.  The pro se plaintiff didn’t oppose the PO’s summary judgment motion on immunity.  Steffensen v. City of Fairbanks, 2010 WL 60919 (D.Alaska Jan. 5, 2010)