jsd@ames.arc.nasa.gov (Jeff Dalton) (09/27/90)
I'm guessing that a tape recording of a phone conversation cannot be used as evidence in court unless both parties are aware they're being recorded. But what if one end of the conversation is on a speaker phone with witnesses listening. I would guess that the witness could testify about the content of the conversation and the person on the other end of the phone wouldn't have to know someone else is listening. Does anyone know anything about this? Jeff Dalton, ESL Inc. jsd@esl.com
jgd@gatech.edu> (10/01/90)
In article <12692@accuvax.nwu.edu> Jeff Dalton <esl!bambam!jsd@ames. arc.nasa.gov> writes: >I'm guessing that a tape recording of a phone conversation cannot be >used as evidence in court unless both parties are aware they're >being recorded. But what if one end of the conversation is on a >speaker phone with witnesses listening. I would guess that the >witness could testify about the content of the conversation and the >person on the other end of the phone wouldn't have to know someone >else is listening. >Does anyone know anything about this? Yes I do. *Caution* Your mileage may vary widely by state. My experience is based on the laws of Tennessee and GA. I have used tape recordings of my own phone calls in court. According to FCC rules, only one party to the conversation (that's me) now must to be aware of the recording. In other words, third party wiretapping is still illegal but it is not illegal to record your own conversations. The recordings may be introduced as evidence but only under strictly controlled conditions. The recordings must have been made available for discovery in the pre-trial proceedings. It is advisable to have written transcripts made of the important parts. The recordings can only be used as rebuttal evidence. It is considered heresay (?!?) as direct evidence. In other words, you CANNOT use a recording to prove something was said. You CAN use it to prove that the person who said it is now lying about what he said. Tapes are subject to all the usual rules of evidence. The other side will do all in its power to discredit the tapes. It is highly advisable to set up a recording system with this in mind - a lawyer's adivice is highly recommended. One of the big things you'll need to do is to be able to prove the authenticity of the tapes and to prove the time and dates of the recordings. What I did was after the call was finished and with the tape still rolling, I'd dial the local time and temp. number and get a time stamp or for really important calls, I'd call the National Observatory number in DC. The DTMF would be recorded and the charge would show up on the phone bill. In summary, yes one can make very effective use of phone recordings but some legal advice and planning is necessary. I'd imagine that an ad-hoc recording of a conversation that started to get hot probably would not withstand the challenge to its authenticity. And I'll repeat again, get good legal advice in your state. I've heard that some states have tried to restrict your right to record. It is my and my attorney's opinion that federal preemption would apply but none of us likely has enough money to prove the point. John De Armond, WD4OQC Radiation Systems, Inc. Atlanta, Ga {emory,uunet}!rsiatl!jgd
carroll@beaver.cs.washington.edu (Jeff Carroll) (10/05/90)
In article <12692@accuvax.nwu.edu> Jeff Dalton <esl!bambam!jsd@ames. arc.nasa.gov> writes: >I'm guessing that a tape recording of a phone conversation cannot be >used as evidence in court unless both parties are aware they're >being recorded. The law in Indiana used to be (and probably still is) that you had to have the consent of the person to whom you were talking in order to tape him, and had to provide the periodic beep to remind him that the tape recorder was running. I don't know what the law is here in Washington State; they don't print it in the phone book like they used to in Indiana. >But what if one end of the conversation is on a >speaker phone with witnesses listening. I would guess that the >witness could testify about the content of the conversation and the >person on the other end of the phone wouldn't have to know someone >else is listening. >Does anyone know anything about this? Only that anyone who has ever talked to a person using a speakerphone would know immediately whether one is in use, and should thus be warned that he is talking to the world and not just to one person's right ear. It would be fairly easy, I'd think, to establish that in court (though I'm not a lawyer). Jeff Carroll carroll@atc.boeing.com
jdominey@bsga05.attmail.com (10/09/90)
In v10 #715, Jeff Carroll <bcsaic!carroll@beaver.cs.washington.edu> writes: >Only that anyone who has ever talked to a person using a >speakerphone would know immediately whether one is in use.... Warning! The phone on my desk, a fairly common AT&T model for System 85/ Generic 2, has a speaker, but no external microphone. When I use the speaker, anyone in my office can hear the conversation. Because I still speak into the handset, the person on the other end will not hear the telltale speakerphone cut-in/cut-out. I wish home speakerphones would use this arrangement, as it would allow my wife and me to "share" calls without subjecting the other party to that annoying speakerphone sound.
lars@spectrum.cmc.com (Lars Poulsen) (10/12/90)
In v10 #715, Jeff Carroll <bcsaic!carroll@beaver.cs.washington.edu> writes: >>Only that anyone who has ever talked to a person using a >>speakerphone would know immediately whether one is in use.... In article <13219@accuvax.nwu.edu> jdominey@bsga05.attmail.com writes: >The phone on my desk ... has a speaker, but no external microphone. >When I use the speaker, anyone in my office can hear the conversation. >Because I still speak into the handset, the person on the other end will >not hear the telltale speakerphone cut-in/cut-out. Radio Shack has a free-standing telephone amplifier that can do this. (It has a MUTE button). We like it for that reason. I used it for a while at the office (at my previous job) but gave up because it did not co-exist well with our 1A2 key system. Lars Poulsen, SMTS Software Engineer CMC Rockwell lars@CMC.COM