But in the Webster County case, three of the calls were placed to Murray’s office and one captured about five minutes of the two discussing trial strategy. Under the Sixth Amendment right to legal counsel, conversations between attorneys and clients are to be confidential.

Nichols testified that she knew that she wasn’t supposed to listen to attorney-client calls, so she stopped once she realized that they had been placed to Murray’s office. But she testified that she didn’t know that she was obligated to report the existence of the calls, so she never wrote up a report.

When prosecutors realized that the privileged calls had been obtained by the investigator, the calls were turned over to the defense. The judge said in his ruling that there was no evidence of misconduct by the prosecution.

But the judge rejected the state’s argument that the intrusion was unintentional and did not reveal prejudicial information . In essence, he said he couldn’t believe the investigator.

“How does the court know if this is true?” the judge said. “The only evidence the court has to gauge her credibility is her words and actions. Her statements ... clearly show she was willing to cross the line to convict the defendant.”