Is it legal for an attorney to subpena prison phone calls in a guardianship case? The father of these children filed a motion to revoke the guardianship of the maternal grandmother. The mother of the children was in prison and was really no part in this action whatsoever, as she was incarcerated. The maternal grandmother's attorney subpoenaed all the mother's prison phone conversations she had made from the time she entered prison until the court hearings, hoping there were things said in the conversations to help her case. The attorney released all the conversations to the maternal grandmother. She has them all in her possession, at her home, free to let anyone listen to them.

The father won custody of his children back. A motion for a re-trial was denied. Even after the court hearings had ended, the grandmother's attorney got the remainder of the mother's prison conversations up until her release last year. The grandmother says he did it to try to prove one of the witnesses was lying and get them for lying on the stand. Not only did this not prove anything, but I have been told you can't do that in family court any way.

First of all, is it legal for an attorney to get the mother's prison conversations for a guardianship hearing? Secondly, and most important, is it legal or ethical to release all the conversations to the grandmother? Those are private conversations, and she is free to let anyone she wants listen to them.

We have asked a few attorneys about this, and none of them seem to know. Of course, we know the calls are recorded and monitored. But, we assumed that was only for the safety and security of the prison and the inmates. Those calls were not for a criminal trial. They were subpoenaed for a guardianship case in probate court and released to an individual party. So, you are telling me that anyone in any case can just have their attorney draw up a subpoena for an inmate's phone records just because they want to listen to them?

I would suggest contacting the state bar. They can answer this for you.

It usually connotes activities that involve some form of investigation. But did you know that even ordinary individuals can now perform tracking, cell phone number tracking that is. Telecommunications have gone a long way and it seems that cellular phones are now considered as necessities rather than a luxury.

I believe you should see a legal expert on this matter to help you resolve your issue quickly.