PLAINFIELD, IL — The defense team for Plainfield landlord and murder defendant Joseph Czuba wants a judge to prohibit Will County jail staff from reading and scanning notes prepared for his attorneys, according to a new filing.
Joliet defense attorney George Lenard, who is representing Czuba with Kylie Blatti, filed a motion on Nov. 28 requesting that the 72-year-old facing multiple felony charges for the death of Wadee Alfayoumi and stabbing of his mother, Hanan Shaheen, be granted the right to bring his notes into the interview room when speaking to his attorneys.
The document outlines a Nov. 27 incident when Czuba scheduled a visit with his attorney and investigator at the Will County jail. He had in his possession notes detailing matters he wanted to discuss.
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“On the page containing the notes, the Defendant wrote legal mail for my lawyer,” the file reads.
But as Czuba was brought into the interview room, a correctional officer told him he could talk to his lawyer about what was written in his notes but was prohibited from physically having them with him. The officer proceeded to take the pages away from him, read them and said she would put them in his jail cell, according to the document.
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After the meeting, Lenard and investigator Michelle Palaro spoke with a watch commander, who told them a court order was required for Czuba to have notes in his possession when meeting with his defense team at the jail.
“We were told that any [and] all written notes that are in the Defendant’s possession are briefly read and ‘scanned,'” Lenard wrote. “It is the position of the defense that notes written by the Defendant regarding his case are protected by attorney-client privilege and should not be read and scanned by the authorities at the Will County Adult Detention Facility.”
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