Opinion ID: 617507
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Flagler's Arrest, the Material Witness Hearing, and the Confiscation of Flagler's Cell Phone.

Text: Pursuant to the material witness arrest warrant, the Utica Police Department arrested Flagler at her home and transported her to the Fulton County Supreme Court for the March 7, 2007 hearing. Justice Richard T. Aulisi appointed a Fulton County Public Defender to represent Flagler at the material witness hearing. At the hearing, Flagler told Justice Aulisi that she had been cooperative with the District Attorney's office and had never said she would not come to court. Trainor never told Justice Aulisi about Flagler's phone call from the prior day, and despite her communications, Trainor recommended that the court remand her into custody. After the hearing, the Fulton County Sheriff's Department took Flagler back into custody and held her overnight without bail. She appeared before the County Court the following morning, and was released on bail. The Sheriff's Department confiscated Flagler's cell phone when the Department took custody of Flagler. Flagler alleged that the Sheriff's Department gave her cell phone to Trainor and that someone in the District Attorney's office unlawfully tried to access Flagler's voicemail. Flagler also alleged that Trainor has refused to return her cell phone, even though Becker's conviction is final.