PHOENIX -- Last month what started out as a regular court hearing turned very controversial, very fast. It happened at the Maricopa County Courthouse during a sentencing hearing for a man accused of aggravated assault.

But Detention Officer Adam Stoddard peeked at papers on the defense attorney's table. Then Stoddard motioned to another officer. That man takes that paperwork off the attorney's desk.

We now know he was making a copy of the documents. Deputy County Attorney Tom Liddy said that's because Stoddard though it had a message that might indicate a crime in the making.

According to Liddy, the Phoenix Police Department might be looking at the man at this hearing, Antonio Lozano, in connection with the Mexican Mafia.

That paperwork didn't have anything like that on it, a judge ruled the information on it falls under attorney-client privilege. Now it's up to the judge if those officers are in contempt of court.

Liddy said, "(Officer Stoddard) saw four key words on there that indicated to him it might be a message, ordering somebody outside, a street gang member, to commit a crime. He seized it, photocopied it to return to evidence, and returned the original."

The defense attorney in that original case, Joanne Cuccia, said, "It was extremely upsetting to have my own client watch that it was taken from his file, right out from under me. You know has a chilling effect, I believe, on communication between other defendants and their lawyers."

Liddy said Stoddard told him if he had it to do over again, he would have told the judge what he thought he saw on those papers and let the court deal with it.

CBS 5 will let you know as soon as a judge makes a ruling on this one.