Man who wrote Federal Wiretap Act says releasing SBPD tapes is illegal

June 01, 2012|By Kelli Stopczynski (kstopczynski@wsbt.com) | WSBT TV Reporter

SOUTH BEND — Lawyers for the demoted South Bend police chief and fired communications director say now that their clients won't be prosecuted, the recorded conversations that prompted a federal wiretapping investigation into the police department should be released to the public. But the man who wrote the Federal Wiretap Act said doing so would be against the law.

Even though the federal investigation is over and Darryl Boykins and Karen DePaepe will not face federal charges, we are not any closer to hearing what DePaepe has said are racist, derogatory and offensive comments on conversations mistakenly recorded on a line in the police department’s detective bureau.

“The purpose of the federal law was to protect privacy, privacy of the people who use the phones, and that hasn’t changed,” said G. Robert Blakey, the Notre Dame Law professor who wrote the Federal Wiretap Act in 1968.

WSBT asked Blakey to read the letter Northern Indiana’s U.S. Attorney David Clapp sent attorneys representing Boykins, DePaepe and the City of South Bend. The letter, dated May 31, 2012, said the investigation is over and no one will be prosecuted.

“Mistakes were made but nobody was malicious, which basically means [local news reporters] should go to covering important issues in this community like people not having jobs, whether or not the mayor is doing everything he can to bring new business here instead of asking him questions about [wiretapping],” Blakey added.

He says it would be illegal for anyone to release conversations mistakenly recorded on a line in the police department's detective bureau, illegal to have a copy of the conversations and illegal to listen to them.

As for Boykins, he asked the mayor to reinstate him as Police Chief.

“He wants the community to know that there's a reason he rose to the rank of chief of police in 30 years of service to this community and that's because he's had a stellar career and he doesn't want this to be a tarnish on his career,” said Boykins’ attorney, Tom Dixon.

DePaepe’s attorney said she might ask for her job back, but she might also move forward with the wrongful termination lawsuit she planned to file against the city.

“One of her issues is that’s a trust issue, being able to work under an administration that has treated her that badly,” said DePaepe’s attorney, Scott Duerring.

Mayor Buttigieg said Thursday and reiterated Friday that city employees are not fit for leadership positions if their actions lead to a federal investigation. Neither will get their jobs back, he added.

According to Blakey, the only way the tapes would ever be played in a semi-public environment is in a courtroom, and that would only happen if the people who were mistakenly recorded and did not know they were being recorded on that line in the detective bureau filed lawsuits against the city.

The Federal Wiretap Act has a two year statute of limitations, meaning the victims have two years to sue, starting from the date it was made public that the lines were being recorded.

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