-Caveat Lector-
Court Holds Driver Guilty
Of Taping Police During Traffic Stop
By Kevin Rothstein
c. 2001 The Patriot Ledger
http://ledger.southofboston.com/display/inn_news/news02.txt
7-14-1
BOSTON - The state's highest court ruled Friday that a
motorist violated the state's wiretapping law when he
secretly recorded Abington police during a traffic stop.
But in a sharply worded minority opinion, Chief Justice
Margaret H. Marshall invoked the infamous Rodney King
beating, saying the man who videotaped it could have
been indicted if that case had happened in
Massachusetts.
"The purpose of (the wiretapping law) is not to shield
public officials from exposure of their wrongdoings,"
Marshall wrote in the dissenting opinion, which was joined
by Justice Robert Cordy.
The ruling stemmed from Michael J. Hyde's appeal of his
1999 conviction for violating the state's wiretapping law,
which prohibits covertly recording conversations.
The former Braintree resident used a hidden tape
recorder to record his traffic stop in Abington.
He later produced the audio tape to back his claim that
Abington police had been abusive to him, but that
recording was used to prosecute him.
Hyde, 33, now lives in Watertown and repairs
tractor-trailers. He said he wants to appeal to federal
court if he can find a lawyer he can afford.
"This isn't about me right now, it's about where our rights
are going," he said. "If I let this drop, this is just going
to
get worse."
He also thinks the case shows the need for term limits for
judges.
Robert Thompson, the prosecutor who argued against
Hyde's appeal for the Plymouth County District Attorney's
office, said comparisons to King's beating in Los Angeles
were "apples and oranges." The King case was
videotaped, not recorded on audio, he said.
All Hyde had to do to avoid breaking the law was tell
police he was recording them, Thompson said.
"I just don't agree that there is any particular need or any
obvious need for secret recordings," he said.
The forcefulness of the dissenting opinion, along with the
underlying issues in the case drew the attention of legal
experts.
Sarah Wunsch, an attorney with the American Civil
Liberties Union of Massachusetts, called the ruling a
"disturbing opinion" that revealed a conservative bent to
the current SJC.
The ACLU filed a brief in support of Hyde's case.
"I think it's a disturbing indicator of this court's view of
important rights to be free from police misconduct," she
said. "Police officers who engage in their official acts out
in a public place have to be scrutinized in a way that
private citizens would not be."
David Yas, publisher of Mass Lawyers Weekly and a
Sharon resident, said the ruling did not likely reveal any
political leanings of the court.
He pointed to the dissenting opinion in which Cordy, a
newcomer to the bench thought to be conservative, joined
with Marshall, who is considered generally liberal.
Weld or former Gov. Paul Cellucci have appointed all the
justices to the bench except Greaney, who wrote for the
majority in the 4-2 decision.
Greaney was appointed by former Gov. Michael Dukakis.
Hyde was pulled over as he was driving his Porsche on
Route 123 in Abington on Oct. 26, 1998.
Police said they stopped him because his car's muffler
was loud and the license plate light was out. Hyde, a rock
musician, complained that he had been stopped because
of his long hair and leather jacket.
Police later testified that Hyde became angry and
belligerent, so much so that they sent him on his way with
a verbal warning just to "de-escalate" the situation.
He returned to the Abington police station the next week
to request that the officers be reprimanded. To back his
claims, he produced an audio recording he had secretly
made of the traffic stop.
An internal investigation cleared the Abington officers who
had stopped Hyde: Patrolmen Michael Aziz and Richard
Gambino and Sgts. Kevin Force and Stephen Marquardt.
But Abington police used the tape to charge Hyde with
violating the wiretapping law.
He was convicted in July 1999 after a two-day trial in
Brockton District Court and sentenced to six months
probation and fined $500.
Hyde argued that his conviction should be overturned
because the police officers should not expect to have the
same rights to privacy as other citizens.
Abington Police Chief Richard Franey disagreed. "Police
officers have rights just like everybody else."
Copyright The Patriot Ledger
MainPage
http://www.rense.com
ANOMALOUS IMAGES
http://www.anomalous-images.com
<A HREF="http://www.ctrl.org/";>www.ctrl.org</A>
DECLARATION & DISCLAIMER
==========
CTRL is a discussion & informational exchange list. Proselytizing propagandic
screeds are unwelcomed. Substance�not soap-boxing�please! These are
sordid matters and 'conspiracy theory'�with its many half-truths, mis-
directions and outright frauds�is used politically by different groups with
major and minor effects spread throughout the spectrum of time and thought.
That being said, CTRLgives no endorsement to the validity of posts, and
always suggests to readers; be wary of what you read. CTRL gives no
credence to Holocaust denial and nazi's need not apply.
Let us please be civil and as always, Caveat Lector.
========================================================================
Archives Available at:
http://peach.ease.lsoft.com/archives/ctrl.html
<A HREF="http://peach.ease.lsoft.com/archives/ctrl.html";>Archives of
[EMAIL PROTECTED]</A>
http:[EMAIL PROTECTED]/
<A HREF="http:[EMAIL PROTECTED]/";>ctrl</A>
========================================================================
To subscribe to Conspiracy Theory Research List[CTRL] send email:
SUBSCRIBE CTRL [to:] [EMAIL PROTECTED]
To UNsubscribe to Conspiracy Theory Research List[CTRL] send email:
SIGNOFF CTRL [to:] [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Om
