NH Cops Use Wiretapping Laws to Crackdown on Citizens Who Videotape Them
By Carlos Miller
The state whose motto is "Live Free or Die" has been twisting
wiretapping laws to criminally charge citizens who record police in public.
And perhaps not so ironic, the three citizens charged with felony
wiretapping within the last year were all involved in the Free State
Project, the growing community of liberty-minded activists moving to New
Hampshire.
All three citizens were arrested by the Weare Police Department.
The most recent case involves a man named William Alleman, 51, who was
pulled over last July for a traffic stop, but was not charged with
felony wiretapping until late last month.
According to the UnionLeader:
Alleman said the incident began after he left a gathering to support
Palmer's Tavern owner George Hodgdon, whose arrest days earlier for
interfering with an assault investigation caused many to publicly
criticize the Weare police.
Alleman said he was followed by a police officer when he left the
gathering, attended mostly by members of the libertarian activist
group, the Free State Project.
As Officer Brian Montplaisir approached his vehicle, Alleman called
Porcupine411, described as "an answering service for Libertarian
activists who are in trouble with police."
The ensuing conversation then ended up recorded on a voice message.
Now Alleman is facing seven years in prison.
However, Alleman has retained the same attorney who represented two
other Free State Project members who were arrested last year on similar
charges, but had their cases dropped.
Attorney Seth Hipple, of the Martin and Hipple law office, is
representing Alleman as well as Carla Gericke and William Rodriguez,
who were arrested on the same charge in March 2010 after Gericke
began videotaping a police traffic stop. Their charges were later
dropped.
But Weare police have yet to return Carla Gericke's cell phone, even
though it's been seven months since the charges were dropped.
Meanwhile, a democratic state senator named Joel Winters has launched a
house committee to examine that law that police are using to arrest
citizens for recording them in public, while they have the right to
videotape citizens without their consent.
"If someone is recording you without your knowledge or consent,
that's the purpose of the wiretapping law, to protect you," Winter
said. "The way it's been interpreted by some in law enforcement is
that recording in public is a violation of the law. I don't think
that's the right interpretation."
So maybe New Hampshire will see a bill introduced similar to the one in
Connecticut that would give citizens the right to sue cops who arrest
them for videotaping in public.
http://www.pixiq.com/article/nh-cops-use-wiretapping-laws#comment-43139
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