Woman Acquitted of Secretly Taping Police
By Chuck Sudo in News on Aug 25, 2011 6:40PM
A jury acquitted 20-year-old Tiawanda Moore of eavesdropping charges. Moore, whom the Sun-times for some reason felt the need to point out was "a former stripper," admitted she used her Blackberry to record two Internal Affairs officers who were trying to pressure her to drop sexual harassment charges against a third officer.
Moore's recording of the officers ran afoul of an obscure state law that prohibits citizens from taping anything in public or private without all involved parties consenting. The ACLU has been fighting that law, citing that police squad cars are equipped with cameras that are mandated to record continuously during an officer’s tour of duty makes for a double standard.
Moore said she was unaware of the law and flipped on the recording device on her Blackberry because she felt the two officers were "stalling, intimidating and bullying her," said her attorney Robert Johnson. She alleges a police officer fondled her and asked for her phone number while responding to a domestic battery call at a residence she shares sometimes with her boyfriend.
Assistant State's Attorney Mary Jo Murtaugh argued that the issue at hand wasn't what Moore recorded, but that she recorded it. Moore's attorney said she was allowed to record the IAD officers under an exemption to the statute that allows such recordings if someone believes a crime is being committed or is about to be committed. The jury evidently agreed, taking less than an hour to find for acquittal. Juror Ray Adams indicated to the Tribune what was on the recordings swayed them.
"The two cops came across as intimidating and insensitive. Everybody thought it was just a waste of time and that (Moore) never should have been charged."
The case also is a black eye for the Police Department's Internal Affairs division, which is charged with investigating misconduct within the department. At the very least, what Moore recorded didn't reflect the division's motto of Professionalism, Obligation, Leadership, Integrity, Courage, and Excellence.
ACLU of Illinois spokesman Ed Yohnka said the verdict "reflects a repudiation of the eavesdropping law in Illinois." Chicago Fraternal Order of Police spokesman Pat Camden said the union supports the law because it prevents people from making baseless accusations against officers by recording them and then releasing snippets that don't reveal the full context of the incident.