According to  federal and New Jersey statute, wiretapping is the use of an intercepting device in order to overhear or record electronic  communications. A device that  just records the numbers to which outgoing  phone calls  are made is not considered a wiretapping  device. The wiretapping statutes also do not apply  to silent video or even  to  the video component  of a video recording with sound.  New Jersey also permits the recording of one’s own telephone conversations with others  without the knowledge or consent of the other parties.

If you want to challenge the government’s wiretapping  of a  telephone  conversation in New Jersey,  you must be the target of the evidence gathered  in the wiretap or a party to one of the wiretapped conversations. Someone does not have standing to challenge  if they were affected by evidence from a wiretapping if the purpose of the wiretapping was  to gather evidence against someone else.

When a criminal defendant  wants to allege  illegal wiretapping, she or he bears the burden of alleging 1) facts to show that he or  she  reasonably believed that there was wiretapping a activity, and 2) that the defendant had an interest in the place where the wiretapped conversations took place.

New Jersey  courts have ruled that even though generally prisoner’s  telephone conversations may be recorded as a matter of routine, a police officer violated wiretapping  statutes when he wiretapped privileged conversations between a prisoner and the prisoner’s  attorney.

New Jersey wiretapping statutes, on one  hand, can serve  to challenge the government’s use of wiretapped  information. On the other hand, it  should be noted that wiretapping is a crime for anyone – whether individual, business, or law enforcement – unless  one or more  of the statutory exceptions applies.

If you have been accused of violating the New Jersey wiretapping statute, or you are  a defendant in a criminal case and believe that evidence against you was obtained through a violation of the wiretapping statute,  it is  in your best interest to consult a New Jersey criminal  defense attorney with expertise in all the issues and complexities that come with allegations of wiretapping offenses. Call our experienced New  Jersey corporate criminal defense attorneys at  973-200-3630  to schedule an immediate consultation.