I’ve written quite about about Maryland prosecuting citizens for videotaping police officers doing their jobs in very public places. The most notable of these cases is that of Anthony Graber, the motorcyclist who, with his helmet cam, video and audio taped an off duty police officer who, er, pulled a gun on him. The issue here is not the videotape, but the audio, which is where the wire-tap statute comes into play. Well, it turns out that my old law firm, Schulman, Treem, Kaminkow and Gilden represents Mr. Graber (pro bono, I might add). It’s a top notch firm that does amazing work (yeah, I’m kind of tooting my own horn here too.) They had a hearing this past Friday to determine whether there will be a trial in this case. There shouldn’t be one. The Maryland Attorney General has issued a decision that says citizens should be allowed to tape police officers since most interactions with officers cannot be considered private. Here is a copy of Joshua Treem‘s motion in the case. I should give a proper acknowledgment to the others who worked on this with Josh- Nicholas Vitek and David Weinstein.
Carlos Miller at Photography is Not a Crime (an amazing blog, by the way) has a great post that summarizes the hearing. Looks like the Judge may rule in favor of the people. Not “THE PEOPLE.” But, you know, us.
Thanks for posting this one. I've been watching this case with a fair amount of trepidation, given that the outcome will be extremely significant to a lot people.
It's interesting that in the motion you cited, it seeks to dismiss count seven, the violation of Section 21-1126, which is (unless I am mistaken) *not* part of the wiretap statute, but part of the vehicle code and specific to videotaping illegal acts.
Do you have a copy of the motion dealing with the wiretap statute, rather than the recording of illegal activity?
Mark, yeah this is the issue I was referring to; the controversy has been over the wiretapping statute, but this motion is about a completely different law.
Let me see what I can find out.
All charges except the traffic-related charges were dropped against Anthony Graber.