A Washington sheriff used a security camera to zoom in on defense and jury documents in court

Judge in court.
(Image credit: Tanasin Srijaroensirikul / Alamy Stock Photo)

A misdemeanor assault and trespass case was dismissed in San Juan County, Washington, The Seattle Times reported Monday, after the local sheriff, Ron Krebs, was found to have used a court security camera to zoom in on defense attorneys' documents and a juror's notes.

Once Krebs' actions came to light, a judge determined the defendant's right to a fair trial had been violated and the case could not continue.

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Bonnie Kristian

Bonnie Kristian was a deputy editor and acting editor-in-chief of TheWeek.com. She is a columnist at Christianity Today and author of Untrustworthy: The Knowledge Crisis Breaking Our Brains, Polluting Our Politics, and Corrupting Christian Community (forthcoming 2022) and A Flexible Faith: Rethinking What It Means to Follow Jesus Today (2018). Her writing has also appeared at Time Magazine, CNN, USA Today, Newsweek, the Los Angeles Times, and The American Conservative, among other outlets.