Teen Video Tapes Traffic Stop Charged By Police With Felony Wiretapping

[DeSwiss]

Video recording leads to felony charge

The Patriot-News
Posted by Matt Miller
June 11, 2007 08:51AM

Brian D. Kelly didn't think he was doing anything illegal when he used his videocamera to record a Carlisle police officer during a traffic stop. Making movies is one of his hobbies, he said, and the stop was just another interesting event to film. Now he's worried about going to prison or being burdened with a criminal record.

Kelly, 18, of Carlisle, was arrested on a felony wiretapping charge, with a penalty of up to 7 years in state prison. His camera and film were seized by police during the May 24 stop, he said, and he spent 26 hours in Cumberland County Prison until his mother posted her house as security for his $2,500 bail.

Kelly is charged under a state law that bars the intentional interception or recording of anyone's oral conversation without their consent. The criminal case relates to the sound, not the pictures, that his camera picked up. "I didn't think I could get in trouble for that," Kelly said. "I screwed up, yeah. I know now that I can't do that. I just don't see how something like this should affect my entire life."

Whether that will happen could be determined during Kelly's preliminary hearing before District Judge Jessica Brewbaker in July. No one seems intent on punishing him harshly. "Obviously, ignorance of the law is no defense," District Attorney David Freed said. "But often these cases come down to questions of intent."

more: http://blog.pennlive.com/patriotnews/2007/06/brian_d_kelly_didnt_think.html

*** - Just how stupid can this law be? What about the public's right to know WTF its police are doing while on the public payroll?!?!?! And according to the http://www.rcfp.org/news/2004/1105johnso.html">Court of Appeals , the police have no expectation of privacy while carrying out their public duties!!!