Legal Ethics
Judge Tosses Lawsuit Evidence Gathered in Illegally Taped Calls
A Florida judge is refusing to allow introduction of illegally taped phone calls in a Florida county’s lawsuit filed against Expedia and Orbitz.
Florida law bars recording a conversation without the other party’s consent, WFTV.com reports. Judge Fredrick Lauten refused to allow the evidence in the suit seeking up to $8 million in tourism taxes on service fees collected by the websites. A lawyer for Orange County had hired witnesses to make the phone calls.
WFTV’s legal analyst, Bill Sheaffer, said the legal development is “embarrassing absolutely. Any lawyer who is practicing in Florida should be aware of the statute for telephone recordings, that [is] basically law 101.”
