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  1. #1
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    Jun 2009
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    Default Illegally Taping Phone Calls

    My question is in Michigan

    I've had myriad problems with my ex. Recently I had to get another ppo against him. He lost in court. Part of his evidence was hundreds of pages of phone calles, taped without my permission. I believe this is why they weren't taken into account. In fact, I didn't even show up to the courthouse that day, but I hear nothing went his way. It was just now I realized I've been being recorded.

    How can I press charges? MI is an ALL party state - meaning everyone must give explicit written permission to be recorded. Also, he recorded me on my own property.

    What can I do? According to what I read this is a felony, but how do I press charges?

  2. #2
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    Default Re: Illegally Taping Phone Calls

    No, whatever you've read to the contrary on one website or another, Michigan is not an "all party" state. If you're a party to a conversation, you may record it.
    Quote Quoting Lewis v. LeGrow, 258 Mich. App. 175, 670 NW 2d 675 (2003) (emphasis added)
    Initially, we note that eavesdropping is not at issue in this case. MCL 750.539c prohibits eavesdropping but that prohibition is limited by subsection 539a(2) to overhearing, recording, amplifying or transmitting the private discourse of others without the permission of all persons engaged in the discourse. The statute does not define "discourse," but its ordinary dictionary definition is "communication of thought by words; talk; conversation;... any unit of connected speech or writing longer than a sentence." Random House Webster's College Dictionary (1992), p 384. Thus, "eavesdropping" is limited to overhearing, recording, amplifying, or transmitting the private, oral, or written communication of others without the permission of all persons engaged in the communication. For that reason, a participant in a private conversation may record it without "eavesdropping" because the conversation is not the "discourse of others." Sullivan v. Gray, 117 Mich.App. 476, 481, 324 N.W.2d 58 (1982).

  3. #3
    Join Date
    Jun 2009
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    48

    Default Re: Illegally Taping Phone Calls

    actually mi is one of 13 states that is -and although that may be grey, it happened in my home.

  4. #4

    Default Re: Illegally Taping Phone Calls

    Feel free to ignore the case law as provided and make a police report. Police will then forward that report to the DA. Don't be surprised when the DA doesn't pick up the case. Case law, which you have been properly quoted, has expounded on the court's view of proper application of the law - so while the statute says one thing in black and white, the appellate court has given a much narrower interpretation. Until the state's Supreme Court rules on the matter (if ever) don't expect the DA to rush into bringing a charge when one party consent is present and both parties are in the state.

    In other words, it's a crap shoot. All YOU can do regarding the matter is file a police report. From there it'll be up to higher powers as to whether or not the matter dies or moves forward.

  5. #5
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    Jun 2009
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    48

    Default Re: Illegally Taping Phone Calls

    I did report it.

    What Does Federal and State Law Say About Phone Call Recording?
    Federal law allows recording of phone calls and other electronic communications with the consent of at least one party to the call. A majority of the states in this country have adopted wiretapping statutes based on the federal law, although most also have extended the law to cover in-person conversations as well as phone conversations. Thirty-eight states and the District of Columbia allow the recording of conversations to which they are a party without informing the other parties that they are doing so. These are known as "single-party consent" statutes, and as long as you are a party to the conversation, it is legal for you to record it.

    Despite Federal law and the "single-party consent" statutes of the majority of states, twelve states require the consent of all parties to a conversation. This is known as "dual-party consent." Obviously, under these same laws, if there are more than two people involved in the conversation, all must consent to the taping.

    The twelve “dual-party consent” states are: California, Connecticut, Florida, Illinois, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Montana, Nevada, New Hampshire, Pennsylvania, and Washington.

    http://www.brickhousesecurity.com/ab...ding-laws.html

  6. #6
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    Default Re: Illegally Taping Phone Calls

    As was already pointed out, it's easy to find incorrect information on the Internet. Here, however, you've been given the correct information. If you're a party to the conversation, you are free to record it under Michigan law.

    The problem appears to arise because people compiling lists of "two party consent" states crib their lists from other sites without doing the research. The origin of the mistake appears to be that somebody looked at MCL 750.539c without bothering to read the definitions provided at MCL 750.539a:
    Quote Quoting MCL 750.539a(2)
    (2) “Eavesdrop” or “eavesdropping” means to overhear, record, amplify or transmit any part of the private discourse of others without the permission of all persons engaged in the discourse.
    If you're a party to the conversation it is not a conversation "of others" and thus, as the Michigan Court of Appeals has made plain, the recording of a conversation to which you are a party is not eavesdropping.

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