Totally Outrageous!!!

This is just another example of the State chipping away at our rights. Thanks to Johann for pointing this out to me in a comment on another post.

Courtesy of Matt Miller at Pennlive.com
Wiretap case dims prospects of man, 18
Recording traffic stop brought felony count
Monday, June 11, 2007
BY MATT MILLER
Of Our Cumberland County Bureau

Brian D. Kelly didn't think he was doing anything illegal when he used his videocamera to record a Carlisle police officer during a traffic stop.
Making movies is one of his hobbies, he said, and the stop was just another interesting event to film.

Of course he didn't think it was wrong. Why would it be?

Now, he's worried about going to prison or being burdened with a criminal record.
Kelly, 18, of Carlisle, was arrested on a felony wiretapping charge, with a penalty of up to 7 years in state prison.
[...]
Kelly is charged under a state law that bars the intentional interception or recording of anyone's oral conversation without their consent.

They explain that this law was designed to protect individuals from having damaging audio recordings made without their knowledge.

[...]
"Obviously, ignorance of the law is no defense," District Attorney David Freed said. "But often these cases come down to questions of intent."
According to police, Kelly was riding in a pickup truck that had been stopped for alleged traffic violations.
Police said the officer saw Kelly had a camera in his lap, aimed at him and was concealing it with his hands. They said Kelly was arrested after he obeyed an order to turn the camera off and hand it over.
The wiretap charge was filed after consultation with a deputy district attorney, police said.

Wiretapping? What the hell are they talking about? The kid had the camera in his hand.

Kelly said his friend was cited for speeding and because his truck's bumper was too low. He said he held the camera in plain view and turned it on when the officer yelled at his pal.
After about 20 minutes, the officer cited the driver on the traffic charges and told the men they were being recorded by a camera in his cruiser, Kelly said.
"He said, 'Young man, turn off your ... camera,'" Kelly said. "I turned it off and handed it to him. ... Six or seven more cops pulled up, and they arrested me."
Police also took film from his pockets that wasn't related to the traffic stop, he said.

The state may record you, you may not record the state.

[...]
The outcome hinges on whether the person had a malicious intent, Freed said.
Carlisle Police Chief Stephen Margeson said allowing Kelly to plead to a lesser charge might be proper.
"I don't think that would cause anyone any heartburn," he said. "I don't believe there was any underlying criminal intent here."

How kind, they might let him plead to a lesser charge.
Everybody seems to agree that this kid had no malicious intent. Also, he was filming an event occurring in public. A Cop is certainly a reasonable figure to tape if he isn't undercover.
So why was he even charged?
This is a good example of how complicated and obscure laws will be used against unsuspecting citizens to process them into the justice system octopus.
Where is the malicious intent in this situation? Could it be with law enforcement sending multiple officers to arrest a kid with a video recorder during a traffic stop, then locking him up for 26hrs. and threatening to scar his permanent record.
That sounds like terrorism to me.

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