MA- Two more people are charged with wiretapping after recording the police.
A Whitman man charged with using a hidden cell phone to record an argument with a Whitman police officer is scheduled for a pretrial hearing in Brockton District Court on Oct. 12.
Robert E. Mansfield, 44, of 27 Old Colony Way, was arraigned Aug. 2 on a charge of felony wiretapping, a court official said.
“It is against the law to audio-record anyone without their knowledge – anyone,” Police Chief Christine May-Stafford said.
Police say the charge stems from a traffic stop on June 30 over Mansfield’s prior refusal to remove a tinted license plate cover.
May-Stafford said Mansfield argued with the officer, who issued Mansfield a citation for a license-plate obstruction.
Mansfield later went into the police station asking police to rescind the citation and was refused. At that point, he informed officers he had recorded the prior argument on his cell phone, police said.
Police searched his pickup truck, seizing two cell phones as evidence.
Mansfield told police he did not know that recording a conversation without the other person’s knowledge or consent was illegal.
If convicted, he faces up to five years in state prison, 21/2 years in the House of Correction, or a $10,000 fine.
Man charged with assault and battery with a dangerous weapon - and wiretapping:
A man being arrested Saturday for the third time in recent months on assault and battery charges was also formally accused of wiretapping when he refused a request from Boston Police to stop videoing them with his cell phone as they took him away to booking.
According to the Suffolk County District Attorney's office, when officers arrived at 4 Glenway Street, they found FL's girlfriend lying on the ground outside their apartment. She quickly told them L had smashed a bottle over her head, the DA's office says. L, clad only in boxer shorts, at first yelled at officers, but then led them to the broken beer bottle in their kitchen, according to a police report read at L's arraignment in Dorchester District Court on Monday. He also called 911 on his cell phone in a vain attempt to get State Police to intervene, the report says.
Once in the cruiser, officers discovered L was using the phone to video them, Judge Kenneth Desmond heard. When they told him to stop, he refused, so in addition to booking L for assault and battery with a dangerous weapon, they added a charge of wiretapping, under a state law that makes it illegal to make an audio recording of people without their consent.
Links:
http://www.tauntongazette.com/state_news/x386655423/Hearing-set-for-man-who-used-cell-phone-to-record-cop
http://www.dotnews.com/2011/man-charged-assault-and-battery-dangerous-weapon-and-wiretapping