http://www.klfy.com/Global/story.asp?S=4510375
February 15, 2006
What's Legal and What Isn't When Conducting an Eavesdropping Investigation?
District Attorney Mike Harson
Lafayette police admitted for the first time Wednesday their
department has been the subject of a federal investigation, an
investigation into allegations members of the department have been
using a hidden listening device to secretly spy on some of their
fellow officers.
Our I-Team talks with District Attorney Mike Harson about electronic
eavesdropping and the law - what's legal and what isn't.
Harson told our I-Team Louisiana law clearly spells out what types of
crimes must be involved before a judge will even consider authorizing
police to conduct a wire tap of an individual's phone or other
electronic surveillance.
Harson says it's not just for everything. He says generally, a
warrant isn't given to intercept phone calls for a shoplifting charge
or a simple theft.
They must be serious felonies like drug trafficking, first-degree
murder, aggravated arson, aggravated kidnapping and extortion.
But, Harson says not every method of listening in on someone's
conversation requires a court order.
For example, the use of a compact cassette recorder thrown into the
mix of a normal work area is legal and doesn't require a court order.
Harson says tape recorders can be bought at any electronics store and
used to record any number of things that would not be confidential or
privileged. He says if that kind of device is used to record a
conversation, then that would probably not be covered under the statute.
But, Harson says secretly planting a specially-designed listening
device is another story.
He says bugging devices and things of this sort are specialized
equipment that are purely designed for one purpose and that would be
covered by the statute.
There is also another issue that comes into play. It's called the
expectation of non-interception.
In basic terms, that means if you have an expectation that no one
else can hear the conversation and it's recorded by a third party,
that's a violation of law.
But, that can be difficult to prove.
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Received on Sat Mar 02 2024 - 00:57:16 CST