Will attorney-client privilege boost secrecy in police reviews? Dylan Noble's attorney says yes

The attorney representing Dylan Noble's family in a civil suit against the city of Fresno and two officers urged the city council Thursday not to vote for a policy change that gives the city's Office of Independent Review access to attorney-client privileged information.

The council unanimously approved the policy change anyway.

The policy grants the independent reviewer, John Gliatta, limited access to attorney-client privileged information. The change will allow Gliatta to sit in on confidential meetings, such as sessions about officer-involved shootings, to review police policies, city staff said.

But Stuart Chandler, the attorney representing Noble's family, said the policy could warp the transparency, independence and accountability of the office.

"If adopted, the Office of Independent Review will have communications with the city attorney’s office, and everything that’s happening with the Office of Independent Review in that particular review is going to be be cloaked in privacy and secrecy," Chandler said. "I think what’s happening here is an effort, by whoever has put this together, to have more secrecy, contrary to the purpose of transparency the Office of Independent Review is supposed to have."

In an interview with The Bee, Chandler said the timing of the policy change also is "highly suspect."

A federal magistrate last month ordered the city of Fresno to give lawyers for the family of Dylan Noble an unredacted copy of a report about the incident prepared by the city's Office of Independent Review.

Noble, then 19, was fatally shot by Fresno police after a traffic stop in 2016. Noble's parents, Darren Noble and Veronica Nelson, are suing the city for wrongful death and violation of their son's civil rights.

Initially, the report obtained by Chandler's office was redacted so heavily it was incomplete, he said.

"I think they’re looking for a new strategy on how to keep Office of Independent Review reports secret, and I think that’s wrong," Chandler said.

Answering a question from Councilman Garry Bredefeld during Thursday's meeting, City Attorney Doug Sloan said the policy change should not affect the transparency of the Office of Independent Review.

"The Office of Independent Review has several functions. One is responding to complaints and that sort of thing. The other is to help the police department improve policy," Sloan said. "To do that, it may be helpful if he can sit in on certain meetings that are intended to be confidential. He can use that information for himself to help generate improved policy for the police department. If he's not subject to attorney-client privilege, he can’t do that."

The wrongful death trial is tentatively set to begin in June in Fresno Superior Court.

This story was originally published April 19, 2018 at 5:50 PM with the headline "Will attorney-client privilege boost secrecy in police reviews? Dylan Noble's attorney says yes."