Friday, September 29, 2006

Bugging a Spouse

Since the Jeanine Pirro investigation involving her desire to bug her husband's boat, a lot of people have asked me if it's legal to bug your spouse. The reasoning is, that you should be able to bug your own home or marital property, or tap your own phone.

I won't do it for anyone, and I always discourage people from doing it. Not being a lawyer, I can't argue the fine points of the law. Generally, if you're not a party to the conversation, you can't record it.

If Pirro did bug her husband's boat, and the FBI says it was illegal, then her discussion of it with a private eye was illegal too. It's conspiracy to commit a crime.

As a former district attorney, she should have realized that she was treading on dangerous ground. Also, the person she discussed it with on the phone was someone to be careful with, as he was the target of investigation. A good rule to follow: never discuss anything on a phone, landline or cell, that you don't want the world to know about.

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