Judge won't dismiss attempted rape case over jailhouse calls

A judge today refused to throw out an attempted rape case against a Palm Harbor businessman whose jailhouse calls to his attorney were recorded by deputies.

Attorneys for Richard Daniel DeCoursy, 42, asked that all charges against their client be dismissed because of the Hillsborough County Sheriff's Office practice of recording incoming and outgoing calls for jail inmates.

Circuit Judge Wayne S. Timmerman denied the request but issued an order prohibiting anyone from the sheriff's office, the Hillsborough State Attorney's Office or the State of Florida from listening to the calls between DeCoursy and his attorney John Trevena.

Assistant State Attorney Mike Sinacore readily conceded to such an order, saying his office and the sheriff's office don't listen to such calls anyway.

DeCoursy's attorneys touted the ruling.

"It's a big victory for the people incarcerated and the attorneys that represent them," said Todd Foster, who argued the motion.

He said other lawyers could use Timmerman's ruling to keep those associated with the prosecution from listening to attorney-client jail calls.

Jail inmates are warned that calls are subject to monitoring and recording.

Sheriff's Col. Jim Previtera, who oversees the jails, said his office is limited by its current technology. He said it is impossible to filter out attorney calls from other calls.

"We need to talk over how with the technology we can comply with the order," he said.

But Previtera said there are no plans to replace the recording system.

"We don't believe there is a need right now," he said.

Trevena contends he and his clients have been singled out, a claim that sheriff's officials deny.

Foster noted that calls between inmates and the county's public defender's office aren't recorded; sheriff's officials say that's because there is a special line running only between the jail and that office.

Foster asked for permission to depose prosecutors and sheriff's officials about the recording system and policy.

Sinacore argued that Foster was asking for a civil rights investigation that was outside Timmerman's authority.

Timmerman agreed.

"I'm not going down that path," he said. "I am not going into the civil rights aspects."

DeCoursy faces charges including attempted sexual battery and tampering with a witness. He has pleaded not guilty and has been held without bail since his arrest June 28 at the Best Western Bay Harbor Hotel on Courtney Campbell Causeway.

According to authorities, a female friend of DeCoursy's said she went to his hotel room willingly but that he threw her on the bed, held her down and tried to strangle her. She said DeCoursy also tried to rip off her clothes.

In May, DeCoursy was sentenced to five years of probation and ordered to complete a sex-offender treatment program after pleading no contest to felony battery as part of a plea agreement in a 2008 case.

Assistant State Attorney Anthony Duran told Timmerman today that he will request that DeCoursy's probation be revoked.

Timmerman said he would hear the probation violation case Oct. 27 and set DeCoursy's trial for Nov. 2.