Newsletter Signup
Stay up to date on all the latest news from Boston.com
Mass. lawmaker seeks to change wiretapping law after alleged victim of domestic abuse is charged
"I was shocked that this is something that could still actually happen to somebody."
A Massachusetts state senator is seeking to change the state’s wiretapping laws after an alleged victim of domestic assault was charged with violating the statute when she recorded her alleged abuser without his consent.
“I was shocked that this is something that could still actually happen to somebody in Massachusetts,” state Sen. Patrick O’Connor, a Weymouth Republican told WCVB, whose investigative team has reported on the case.
The man, who is accused of attempting to suffocate his wife with a pillow, appeared in court on Tuesday, where his lawyer requested the charges be dropped, according to the news station.
Attorney Peter Horstmann said the man’s wife pursued the charges against her husband as retaliation. Horstmann says she did not report the incident until after she was charged with eight counts of illegal wiretapping for allegedly secretly recording her husband, but records obtained by Boston.com show his wife did in fact report incidents of abuse to local police.
Advertisement:
Suffolk County Assistant District Attorney Brandon DeAvilla countered that the wife pressed charges because authorities were not responsive to what allegedly happened.
“She found a situation where the system was not doing what she expected it to do, that she had to take matters into her own hands, and that’s when she filed her own complaint,” said DeAvilla, who is a special prosecutor in the case being held in Plymouth County.
The judge placed the request to dismiss under advisement, according to WCVB.
Under state law, a person who records someone else without that second party’s permission can be criminally charged.
Advertisement:
The wife, in a recent deal, will have her charges dismissed in six months so long as she commits no additional crimes, according to WCVB.
But her case caught the attention of O’Connor, who argues the state law should be amended to exempt survivors of domestic violence.
“As they’re trying to get out of an abusive relationship, as they’re trying to move from a victim to a survivor, to have this be then put up as a barrier to them to come forward, as a barrier for them to fully heal from the pain that they’re feeling, is something that the state should definitely change,” he said.
O’Connor hopes to file an amendment before the current legislative session ends in a few weeks.
“At least let’s start the conversation. Let’s have a commission. Look at this. Let’s do something to make sure that what happened … doesn’t happen again,” he said.
Update Sept. 18, 2024: The name of the defendant in the case referenced has been removed as all charges against him were dismissed in November 2022 due to a “lack of prosecution.” All eight wiretapping charges against his wife were also dismissed, after she completed her pre-trial probation.
Sen. Patrick O’Connor is still working to get the wiretapping laws changed in Massachusetts, and he’s planning to refile his bill in January.
Advertisement:
“We remain one of only eleven states that require two party consent,” he wrote in a statement to Boston.com. “We remain hopeful that we can update our laws to carve out specifics, such as domestic violence, in order for those recordings to be used in a court of law for criminal and custody purposes. In a time where the opportunity to bring truth is literally at your fingertips, we should be updating our laws accordingly to do as much as we can to protect individuals from abuse and revictimization.”
To comment, please create a screen name in your profile
To comment, please verify your email address
Conversation
This discussion has ended. Please join elsewhere on Boston.com