Ex-detainee: Portage County recorded attorney-client calls

STEVENS POINT, Wis. (AP) -- A former detainee at the Portage County Jail is suing the sheriff's office and district attorney's office, alleging authorities recorded privileged conversations between the man and his attorney, then shared those calls with prosecutors.

In a federal lawsuit filed Tuesday, Brett Lieberman alleges his constitutional and civil rights were violated when officials recorded calls with his attorney. The lawsuit seeks class-action status.

Attorney Steven Hart called authorities' actions "outrageous."

Sheriff Mike Lukas said he hadn't been served with the lawsuit and didn't have details. A message left with the District Attorney's Office wasn't immediately returned.

Online court records indicate the 37-year-old Lieberman was in the Portage County Jail awaiting trial and sentencing on a second-degree reckless endangerment charge. He was sentenced in January 2016 and has been at Fox Lake prison since then.

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