A recording made in violation of Georgia’s eavesdropping statute cannot be used in your divorce for any purpose.
What the Statute Says
Under OCGA 16-11-62(1) it is unlawful for any person, in a clandestine manner, intentionally to overhear or record “the private conversation of another which shall originate in any private place.” The consequence is at OCGA 16-11-67: “No evidence obtained in a manner which violates any of the provisions of this part shall be admissible in any court of this state except to prove violations of this part.”
The Statute Applies Between Spouses
In Ransom v. Ransom, 253 Ga. 656 (1985), a husband tape-recorded telephone conversations his wife conducted in the marital residence, without her knowledge, and planned to use them at trial to prove adultery. The Georgia Supreme Court refused to read a domestic exception into the statute, holding that the legislature intended to protect “all persons from invasions upon their privacy, including invasions made upon the privacy of one spouse by the other in a private place.”
Not Even for Impeachment
The trial court in Ransom had allowed the husband to use the tapes if the wife testified inconsistently with them. The Supreme Court reversed. The statute “provides, without exception, that no evidence shall be admissible in any court except to prove a criminal violation” of the eavesdropping law.
What Was Said on the Tape Does Not Matter
In Middleton v. Middleton, 259 Ga. 41 (1989), a trial court held that a wife gave up her right of privacy by having lascivious conversations on the family telephone her husband had tapped. The Supreme Court reversed. “There is no exception in the statute for illegal or immoral conversations,” and “[w]aiver of privacy cannot be based on the content of the conversation, otherwise all criminal conversations would be admissible.”
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This post is a quick overview of the law and is not intended as legal advice. Please feel free to contact our office for a consultation if you have questions about this or any other legal aspects regarding your case!