November 26, 2005

A Practical Guide to Taping Phone Calls
posted by Argh 19 years ago
  • I've taped calls in a stalking case. Inadmissible in court, but wonderful at lighting a fire under cops.
  • You'll have to speak up, I have a banana in my ear.
  • screw the laws show us the how to links!
  • I live in an all-party consent state. If I witness a crime in progress and record it for evidence, does that mean I've broken the law and the perpetrator could sue me? It sure sounds like that's the case if my recording includes audio.
  • You'll have to speak up, I'm wearing a towel.
  • What?
  • If I witness a crime in progress and record it for evidence, does that mean I've broken the law and the perpetrator could sue me? That's an interesting question. While IANAL, I have watched at least two seasons of Boston Practice, so I'm obviously entitled to render a legal opinion as it applies to the law as represented on a television drama, set in Boston. What this makes me wonder is if you would (at least technically) be guilty of withholding evidence if you did accidentally record a crime in progress and didn't make the video tape available to the police? I'm also wondering if all that would happen as a result would be if the prosecutor would decide whether or not it was worth attempting to admit it as evidence, and then he/she would get the chance to slug out with the defense attorney in front of a judge as to whether or not it truly was admissible, or tainted by the manner in which it was recorded. There must be some sort of legislation that covers, for example, video evidence obtained from security cameras (maybe some sort of implied consent), so I wonder if that would extend to situations where no premeditated effort to record a particular individual's actions could be established? I wonder how that would differ from eyewitness testimony? Seriously, sometimes I wish IWAL.
  • depending on the crime, and your locale, the police may or may not be interested. I used to videotape crack dealers a few years ago, when my neighborhood was much sketchier (you can see some of the charmers here), and I frequently offered video to the cops, and they were never interested - because I wasn't an officer of the law, my video didn't meet some evidentiary rule, so it's worthless in a court of law. basically, I couldn't prove that person A did not just sell person B a piece of rock salt for $20, so what I had on tape was not "illegal". grrr.
  • I have watched at least two seasons of Boston Practice Your honor, this witness is LYING! And therefore NOT entitled to render a legal opinion. There is no "show" called Boston Practice, nor has Boston Legal completed two seasons. I suggest this advocate be reprimanded and sent back to tv-land for retraining.