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For those of you who use voice recorders......

Thundar

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CaptainCharles wrote:
I assume it is legal to record conversations in VA, but I can't find a statute or code about it. Can someone point me in the right direction?



Also, are voice recordings admissable in court?

Here is what I could find about audiorecordings, pictures and video recordings:

§ 8.01-420.2. Limitation on use of recorded conversations as evidence.

No mechanical recording, electronic or otherwise, of a telephone conversation shall be admitted into evidence in any civil proceeding unless (i) all parties to the conversation were aware the conversation was being recorded or (ii) the portion of the recording to be admitted contains admissions that, if true, would constitute criminal conduct which is the basis for the civil action, and one of the parties was aware of the recording and the proceeding is not one for divorce, separate maintenance or annulment of a marriage. The parties' knowledge of the recording pursuant to clause (i) shall be demonstrated by a declaration at the beginning of the recorded portion of the conversation to be admitted into evidence that the conversation is being recorded. This section shall not apply to emergency reporting systems operated by police and fire departments and by rescue squads, nor to any communications common carrier utilizing service observing or random monitoring pursuant to § 19.2-62.

(1983, c. 503; 1992, c. 567.)

§ 18.2-386.1. Unlawful filming, videotaping or photographing of another; penalty.

A. It shall be unlawful for any person to knowingly and intentionally videotape, photograph, or film any nonconsenting person or create any videographic or still image record by any means whatsoever of the nonconsenting person if (i) that person is totally nude, clad in undergarments, or in a state of undress so as to expose the genitals, pubic area, buttocks or female breast in a restroom, dressing room, locker room, hotel room, motel room, tanning bed, tanning booth, bedroom or other location; or (ii) the videotape, photograph, film or videographic or still image record is created by placing the lens or image-gathering component of the recording device in a position directly beneath or between a person's legs for the purpose of capturing an image of the person's intimate parts or undergarments covering those intimate parts when the intimate parts or undergarments would not otherwise be visible to the general public; and when the circumstances set forth in clause (i) or (ii) are otherwise such that the person being videotaped, photographed, filmed or otherwise recorded would have a reasonable expectation of privacy.

B. The provisions of this section shall not apply to filming, videotaping or photographing or other still image or videographic recording by (i) law-enforcement officers pursuant to a criminal investigation which is otherwise lawful or (ii) correctional officials and local or regional jail officials for security purposes or for investigations of alleged misconduct involving a person committed to the Department of Corrections or to a local or regional jail, or to any sound recording of an oral conversation made as a result of any videotaping or filming pursuant to Chapter 6 (§ 19.2-61 et seq.) of Title 19.2.

C. A violation of subsection A shall be punishable as a Class 1 misdemeanor.

D. A violation of subsection A involving a nonconsenting person under the age of 18 shall be punishable as a Class 6 felony.
 

Neplusultra

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CaptainCharles wrote:
Thanks! Answers my question completly!
Those rules apply to evidence I believe. If you read section § 19.2-62 "B" paragraph 2 it says;

2. It shall not be a criminal offense under this chapter for a person to intercept a wire, electronic or oral communication, where such person is a party to the communication or one of the parties to the communication has given prior consent to such interception.

So if I'm not wrong you can record a conversation as long as you are a part of it, or given permission to do so by someone who is part of it, without the anyone else's knowledge. It's jus that you can't use it as evidence unless something criminal was happening.

I am not sure, is wrongful arrest or detention criminal????
http://leg1.state.va.us/cgi-bin/legp504.exe?000+cod+19.2-62
 

Citizen

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Neplusultra wrote:
SNIP If you read section § 19.2-62 "B" paragraph 2 it says;

2. It shall not be a criminal offense under this chapter for a person to intercept a wire, electronic or oral communication, where such person is a party to the communication or one of the parties to the communication has given prior consent to such interception.

So if I'm not wrong you can record a conversation as long as you are a part of it, or given permission to do so by someone who is part of it, without the anyone else's knowledge. It's jus that you can't use it as evidence unless something criminal was happening.

You are right. Virginia is known as a "one-party consent" state.

Also, notice that the evidence question in 8.01-420.2refers directly to telephone conversations.
 

Neplusultra

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Citizen wrote:
Neplusultra wrote:
SNIP If you read section § 19.2-62 "B" paragraph 2 it says;

2. It shall not be a criminal offense under this chapter for a person to intercept a wire, electronic or oral communication, where such person is a party to the communication or one of the parties to the communication has given prior consent to such interception.

So if I'm not wrong you can record a conversation as long as you are a part of it, or given permission to do so by someone who is part of it, without the anyone else's knowledge. It's jus that you can't use it as evidence unless something criminal was happening.

You are right. Virginia is known as a "one-party consent" state.

Also, notice that the evidence question in 8.01-420.2refers directly to telephone conversations.
So you're saying that secretly recorded conversation, as long as it's not over a phone, "can" be used as evidence even if no criminal activity took place? As long as one person was party to the recording, of course....
 

Citizen

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Location
Fairfax Co., VA
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Neplusultra wrote:
SNIP So you're saying that secretly recorded conversation, as long as it's not over a phone, "can" be used as evidence even if no criminal activity took place? As long as one person was party to the recording, of course....

I'm not saying it. I'm telling readers to take note of what the law says.
 
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