Legal Question in Criminal Law in Nebraska

Re: wire tapping

There are entire books devoted to this subject. Wiretapping issues involve complicated interactions between state law, federal law and evidence codes. Not all recorded telephone coversations are "wiretaps." If a private individual tapes a phone conversation, it is generally admissible as evidence against the persons involved in the conversation. However, if a private person records a conversation at the direction or urging of the police, it may be seen as an attempt at avoiding the laws requiring a warrant before the police may tap a phone, and not admissible in court. Police or government agents must get an order from a judge before they may tap a phone in a criminal investigation. There are other requirements for such orders, limiting the amout of time the order is good for, minimizing the invasion of privacy against persons not named in the wiretap order, requiring officials to regularly report the progress of the tap, maintaining records of the wiretap, and showing that other regular police methods will not be effective without a wiretap etc.

Also, almost all wiretaps result in "hearsay" evidence. Hearsay is an out of court statement, that is offered to prove the truth of what is said out of court. Some exceptions to the general ban on hearsay evidence frequently apply to wiretap cases- admissions by the defendant, co-conspirator statements, or that the statement is not offered to prove the truth of the statement, but instead is used for another purpose. For example "Charlie told me that Mr Body had three knives sticking out his back" is not admissible to show Charlie killed Mr. Body, but would be admissible to show that he knew Mr. Body was dead at the time of the statement.

You need to discuss this question with an experienced criminal law attorney who is familiar with wiretap cases. Look for someone who has extensive experience in federal drug conspiracy cases, as wiretap issues occur more frequently in these cases than in state criminal law cases in general. Good luck