MD - A local blogger was charged with wiretapping after he allegedly recorded a conversation between himself, his wife -- a City Council candidate -- and Pocomoke City Mayor Michael McDermott and later posted it on a Web site.According to court documents, William Burke -- an auctioneer who along with his wife, Stephanie Burke, publishes pocomoketattler.com -- used a digital recorder March 27 to tape about 37 minutes of a conversation with McDermott on the steps of Pocomoke City Hall...
The attributed post links to a short audio clip of a man saying, "Hey, you know what, I have a plan for you. Why don't you move?" and states the speaker is McDermott.
Burke was charged with wiretapping two days later. If found guilty, he could face a maximum penalty of five years in prison and a fine of $10,000. Burke will go before a judge for a preliminary hearing May 7.
The Maryland Annotated Code states it is illegal to record a conversation unless "all of the parties to the communication have given prior consent."
University of Maryland Media Law Professor Deborah Nelson said there is a lot of legal gray area with the situation since the recording was made in a public area. (more)
