On Thursday morning, June 12, Sarasota attor-
ney Andrea Mogensen wrangled two important
concessions during a hearing on release of
Sarasota Police Department records involv-
ing cellphone intercepts. There will be an
emergency hearing to prevent destruction of
any documents by either local or federal agen-
cies. And the documents now in possession
of the U.S. Marshals
Service will be segre-
gated into federal and
state documents, with
the state documents
returned to the issu-
ing jurisdiction.
Mogensen, representing the American Civil
Liberties Union, was joined in court by
Greg Thomas, representing a second plain-
tiff, Michael Barfield of Sarasota. They were
requesting public documents concerning the
use of "stingray" devices to monitor cellphone
transmissions in Sarasota. The surveillance
involved the U.S. Marshals Service and the U.S.-
Caribbean Fugitive
Apprehension Task
Force. Sarasota Police
D e t e c t i v e M i c h a e l
Jackson, who is also
a sworn deputy U.S.
marshal, is a member
of the task force.
The Judge Lynn Silvertooth Judicial Center is in downtown Sarasota. File photo
CONCESSIONS MADE
THE U.S. ATTORNEY'S OFFICE YIELDS TO SOME REQUESTS IN A CASE
INVOLVING ALLEGED CELLPHONE MONITORING
But it does seem curious that a
federal marshal went to the 12th
Judicial Circuit, not a federal judge.
Process is what's important here.
Greg Thomas
Attorney
By Stan Zimmerman
City Editor