Felony wiretapping?

[WithoutAPaddle]

I seriously question the Constitutionality and the sanity of prohibiting anyone from secretly recording remarks made that were directed to them.  The original "prohibition" of unauthorized, self-recording of telephone conversations was actually a, "Tariff" law to make sure that the phone monopoly got paid for the use of its recording equipment.  Decades later, there were court decisions that were initially intended to prevent the violation of privacy by recording amplified conversations that were not intended to be heard, and that got compounded by poorly conceived and worded statutes to try to protect privacy that regrettably now seem to penalize people making legitimate attempts to simply prove the veracity of their own accounts of deliberate communications to them. 

As things stand, if a person falsely alleges, for example, that he told me to leave his property and proceeds to get me prosecuted for criminal trespass, a jury can deem his testimony to be more convincing than mine and convict me, but I can't play a tape of my recording of that conversation to prove that he was lying.  Last time I checked, which was about a decade ago, New Hampshire had an incredible, "omnibus" statute that said that any audio recording of any kind that was made illegally could not be used in any legal proceedings..  I have not followed that issue since then.  As Chester Reilly used to say, "What a revoltin' development this it!"


Uber driver arrested on felony wiretapping charge

Uber driver Christopher David was charged with audio recording a Portsmouth bouncer without that person's permission. Deb Cram/Seacoastonline, File Photo

By Elizabeth Dinan
edinan@seacoastonline.com

Posted Nov. 6, 2015 at 8:58 PM
Updated Nov 6, 2015 at 9:34 PM

PORTSMOUTH — An unregistered Uber driver was arrested Friday on a warrant for a felony count of wiretapping that alleges he audio recorded a downtown bar bouncer without that person's knowledge or permission.

The driver, Christopher David, 29, of 96 Mount Vernon St., Dover, turned himself in on the warrant Friday afternoon, shortly after saying he would not because his fiancée was due to give birth "at any moment."

"To the city of Portsmouth, I opt out of your system," David wrote online. "Leave me alone."

After his arrest at the city police station, David was released on $5,000 personal recognizance bail. He said he was also scheduled to be arraigned Jan. 4 at the Portsmouth Circuit Court.

A member of the Free State movement, David said the wiretapping charge stems from a video he recorded and posted on YouTube while driving for Uber last month. In the video, the bouncer can be heard warning David that Uber is illegal in Portsmouth and telling him that fines for violating the city's new transportation ordinance are $500 for a first offense and $1,000 for subsequent violations.
Also recorded was a city police officer who subsequently gave David a similar warning. The officer was recorded by David telling him he was "more than welcome to come to town" but it was illegal for Uber to operate.

Uber is illegal because the company has failed to comply with the city's new transportation ordinance that requires proof of commercial insurance and criminal background checks for all drivers-for-hire.

Acting Deputy Police Chief Frank Warchol said David was wanted for the wiretapping charge based on a complaint made by the bouncer, who learned he was audio recorded when David's YouTube video was later brought to his attention. Warchol said the charge has nothing to do with the officer being audio recorded, noting that is legal.

He said the recording of an unknowing private individual is illegal by state statute and it "will be up to a judge" to issue a final ruling.
David said in a Portsmouth Herald interview that he's continuing to operate as an Uber driver in Portsmouth, without adhering to the city's new ordinance, as "an act of civil disobedience." Also a web developer, he's been spreading the word about his protest through Facebook, the website FreeUber.org and by posting fliers on utility poles throughout the city.

On Friday night, David and about 15 people protested his arrest in front of Daniel Street Tavern. Police briefly checked on the protest and allowed it to continue, as the protesters were doing so peacefully.

Last week, Carl Spentz became the city's first legal Uber driver after he submitted, on his own, proof of commercial insurance and a criminal background check.

Grandmother Stephanie Franz was the first in the city to be cited as an unregistered Uber driver and is scheduled to appear in the Portsmouth Circuit Court on Dec. 7.