http://www.boston.com/dailyglobe2/107/metro/Motorist_s_tape_of_traffic_stop_lands_him_in_court-.shtml -------------------- The Boston Globe Low-Graphics Version The Boston Globe Online -- Low Graphics Version -- On boston.com MAIN SECTIONS Page One ________________________________________________ Nation | World Metro | Region Motorist's tape of traffic stop lands him in court Business Sports Bid to prove misconduct brings wiretap charge Living | Arts Editorials By Hermione Malone, Globe Correspondent, 04/17/99 Obituaries On Oct. 26, 1998, Michael Hyde got a familiar feeling. LATEST NEWS Driving his Porsche on Route 123 in Abington, he noticed Nation a police officer looking at him from the entrance of a Region convenience store. Jokingly, Hyde turned to his friend in Business the car and said, ''Ever have that feeling that someone Sports isn't going to leave you alone?'' Scoreboard Washington A mile down the road, that officer, Michael Aziz, stopped World Hyde's car, and what happened next, Hyde says, amounts to Technology simple harassment, involving four officers, because he Arts and his friend looked like drug dealers to the police. -------------- ''I was driving a Porsche 928, I'm in a band, have long hair, and my friend was wearing a leather coat, and To access all somehow that added up to cocaine,'' he said, adding that features of the one officer asked if he had any ''blow in the dash.'' Globe Online, including a That quote, he states, is on a tape of the encounter. regularly- Like an increasing number of motorists in the wake of the updated Page Rodney King confrontation with Los Angeles police, police One, return to say, Hyde taped the traffic stop. the full-graphics But this time, the police are fighting back. They version. indicted Hyde on a wiretapping statute, alleging that he illegally violated the officers' privacy. ''Police officers have the same rights as other citizens,'' insisted Plymouth County prosecutor Paul Dawley, stating that, if the tables were turned and a police officer were caught taping someone without permission, people would be outraged. This week, Hyde was in Brockton District Court for pretrial motions, getting ready to oversee his defense against the criminal wiretapping charge. ''I guess I run a chance of going to jail for bringing the truth to be observed,'' Hyde said. ''This is saying the police can break any law they want and you can't even use the truth against them.'' James Greenberg, Hyde's defense attorney, said he believes it is the first time that police have used a wiretap statute against a motorist. The traffic stop itself did not lead to any charges. Hyde was not arrested or ticketed, but, said Greenberg, he showed up the next day at the Abington police station to make a formal complaint, armed with an audio cassette recording of the incident. Instead of a reprimand for the officers involved, Hyde got a court date. Abington police charged Hyde with unlawful wiretapping and their evidence was the very tape he brought in to prove ill conduct by the police. Nearly six months later, Hyde's run-in with Abington police is tied up in legal wrangling. At Thursday's pretrial hearing, Greenberg unsuccessfully argued for a continuance to prepare a motion to dismiss. Judge David Nagle instead ordered the motion be filed by the end of the month and scheduled a hearing for May 6. Hyde, 31, of Braintree, agrees that he has a recording of the entire traffic stop, which he says reveals officers engaged in ''verbal assault'' and police ''profiling'' of suspects based on their age and appearance. However, Hyde will not say if he was the one who taped the encounter. In any case, Greenberg said, the charge will not stick. The statute under which Hyde is being prosecuted was designed to help control organized crime, and involves wiretapping only, he said, not direct taping. But the Plymouth district attorney's office sees the case differently. ''If you have a tape recording, but it's not by telephone, I think the statute is pretty clear,'' said Dawley, who is deputy first assistant DA. ''It makes it unlawful for anyone to intercept wire or oral communication by wire or electronic means, unless in compliance with the wiretap statute. And that requires judicial authorization.'' The two main issues, from Greenberg's point of view, are whether a recording using no telephonic devices constitute a wiretap; and whether police officers acting under the color of the law can be considered private citizens. According to Greenberg, the statute says a private citizen cannot secretly record another private citizen without his or her consent. He maintains that police officers on duty are not considered private citizens, and thus Hyde did not break the law. ''That argument is nonsense. Police officers have the same rights that citizens have,'' Dawley said. ''If this were a situation in which we alleged that a police officer was secretly recording the conversation of a private citizen, would he make that same argument? I don't think so.'' Hyde alleges that after the stop he was harassed, his car was damaged in a search, and officers were uncooperative in giving him their names. Abington Deputy Chief David Majenski declined comment on the case. A police report by Officer Roderick Ambrose said Hyde was stopped ''because his number plate was not illuminated and his exhaust was extremely loud.'' 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