Showing posts with label blogs. Show all posts
Showing posts with label blogs. Show all posts

Tuesday, January 5, 2010

Pocomoke Blogger Billy Burke found guilty of illegally taping mayor

Billy (William) Burke, Publisher of The Pocomoke Tattler a Pocomoke City resident who went on trial today on charges that he illegally recorded a heated conversation with his town's mayor, made a plea agreement and was sentenced to probation before judgment.

Burke entered an Alford plea this afternoon, conceding that prosecutors had enough evidence to obtain a conviction without admitting guilt.

A Circuit Court judge pronounced Burke guilty of a misdemeanor wiretapping charge and sentenced him to probation, but did not hand down any jail time.

Burke stood accused of violating state wiretapping laws by recording a conversation with mayor Mike McDermott just before spring elections in 2009 without telling McDermott he was being taped. Burke's wife, Stephanie Burke, was a candidate for city council at the time.

Burke, who runs the pocomoketattler.com blog, had asserted his innocence in a blog posting this morning, saying the Bill of Rights and free-speech laws ought to protect him in the matter.

Bill of Rights/Free Speech and all that

Local Blogger; Wiretapping Trial

Well today is the day we find out the results of local blogger Billy Burke publisher of the Pocomoke Tattler wiretapping charges.

While the trial has been put-off and postponed several times Mr. Burke will today finally know his fate.

The trial was finally set to be a jury trial after the state bussed in a out-of-town judge that would hear the case.

On the Maryland Judicial Case search site Mr Burke's trial again has changed from a "Criminal Jury Trial", to a "Criminal Non-Jury Trial" holding the same date.

Event Type: Criminal Jury TrialNotice Date:
Event Date: 11/02/2009Event Time:09:30 AM
Result: Postponed/ResetResult Date:10/22/2009

Event Type: Criminal Non-Jury TrialNotice Date:
Event Date: 01/05/2010Event Time:09:30 AM
Result: Result Date:

Mr. Burke was accused of "illegally recording" the Mayor of Pocomoke during the time that Mrs. Burke had been running for a council seat in Pocomoke and after publishing an out of context clip (posted below for you to hear) of the recording on his blog The Pocomoke Tattler.



The events that followed turned their life upside-down including a "raid" of their home where the PCPD collected most anything electronic that the Burke's owned and possesed, computers, cameras, recording devises, etc.

Charge and Disposition Information
(Each Charge is listed separately. The disposition is listed below the Charge)
Charge No: 1CJIS Code:1 5705Statute Code:CJ.10.402
Charge Description: Wiretapping
Offense Date From: 03/27/2009To: 03/27/2009
Arrest Tracking No: 08-1002-04545-6Citation:
Charge Amend No: 0Sentence Version:0Charge Class:
Disposition
Plea: Plea Date:
Disposition: Disposition Date:
This case surely lacks in any prosecution;
1st the recording was made in a public place. (hearsay)
2nd Mr. Burke (IMHO) did not receive a "speedy trial" while the state (for whatever reason) was looking to find an out-of-town robe.

Now of course I'm not an attorney, but I did study and make many phone calls on Mr Burke's behalf in relation to Marylands "wiretapping" laws and if all accounts are accurate he will be acquitted today. (and I did stay at Holiday Inn)

Yes it is immoral, unethical, and just not a nice thing to do while your 'mark' is unaware they are being recorded in what 'they' think to be a private conversation no matter where that conversation takes place. BUT... is it illegal?

We shall see.

Thursday, November 19, 2009

Local Business owner alleges charges on local blogger

The war of words has been going on since the beginning of time, but it seams that in today's world one must be cautious as to not say anything that could possibly hurt someones feelings.

More and more bloggers are being sued and/or arrested for a picture, a sound bite, or simple words, the strange thing is most of the time the offending substance comes from anonymous comments and are not the opinions of the blogger themselves.

As far as I know no one has won one of these lawsuits yet except the blogger that was arrested in Jade county Virginia on frivolous charges and they copped a plea.

Some people just need to grow thicker skin.

Below is today's article on DelMarVaNow.com


A local business owner who filed criminal charges and a civil lawsuit against a controversial Salisbury news blogger could have a lengthy and expensive court battle ahead of him, according to a blog pundit.

John Robinson, the 39-year-old owner of Robinson's Jewelry and Clock Store, filed criminal charges and a civil lawsuit against Joe Albero, a 47-year-old Delaware resident, this month in the District Court of Maryland for Wicomico County.

Albero declined to comment on the allegations, stating he just received court documents related to the criminal charges.

If Albero opts for a criminal jury trial, the criminal case could go to Circuit Court.

The majority of defamation cases never see the inside of a courtroom, said Robert Cox, president of the Media Bloggers Association. They are either dropped or settled out of court.

These types of cases can also cost up to $50,000, he added.

Robinson filed criminal charges on Tuesday alleging that Albero has harassed and published defamatory comments about Robinson and his family for more than two years, according to court documents.

The business owner on Nov. 11 also filed civil lawsuits against Albero and two other alleged contributors on Albero's blog.

Each civil complaint asks for $24,000 in damages, according to court records.

The alleged blog posts include unsubstantiated allegations that called Robinson a drug abuser, a child molester and suggested that his daughter was fathered by another man, according to court records.

"If those things are not true, you at least have a foot in the door for a defamation case," said Cox.

The Media Bloggers Association is a nonprofit organization founded by "leading bloggers" in 2004 whose mission includes defending the rights of bloggers and citizen journalists, according to information on the association's Web site.

However, more than just hurt feelings are needed to prove a case, Cox said. Robinson would have to prove that he lost money as a result of the alleged posts.

"It's like punching Jell-O," said Robert Cox. "There's very little you can do."

Robinson also alleges Albero followed his family around and took pictures of them at a local mall, the playground and other places, according to court records.

Cox said because these are public places, it is less likely that Albero's alleged actions could be considered harassment by a judge or jury. The scenario sounded more like an invasion of privacy which would also be difficult to prove if the photos were taken in public places.

Also adding to the challenge of such cases is that the plaintiff has to prove the defendant has malicious intent when the posts were made, Cox said.

Tuesday, November 17, 2009

Can the law keep up with technology?


In a case that would have been impossible even five years ago, bad-girl rocker Courtney Love is being sued for libel by a fashion designer for allegedly slamming the woman on Twitter.

The suit claims that after a disagreement over what Love should pay Dawn Simorangkir for the clothes she designed, Love posted allegedly derogatory and false comments about the designer -- among them that she had a "history of dealing cocaine" -- on her now-discontinued Twitter feed.

But as technology evolves faster than the laws that govern free speech online, it's not just the famous who are finding trouble.

Consider the case of Amanda Bonnen and her former landlord. Bonnen, an Illinois resident, is accused of using Twitter to tell another user: "Who said sleeping in a moldy apartment was bad for you? Horizon Realty thinks it's okay."

Horizon Group Management LLC, the company that owned the apartment in question, sued Bonnen for libel over the alleged tweet. Horizon is seeking $50,000 in damages.

Legal experts say such Internet-related cases are being watched closely because they confront new and unaddressed areas of American law.

For example, how should a libel case be handled when it comes to social media? How can society balance accountability with free speech? And if information -- from private thoughts to public data -- is so readily available, how do we define what constitutes privacy?

Anonymity and immunity

In August 2008, a user of Blogger.com, a Google subsidiary, created "Skanks in NYC."

The blog assailed Liskula Cohen, 37, a Canadian-born cover girl who has appeared in Vogue and other fashion magazines, by featuring photos of Cohen captioned with derogatory terms.

Cohen sued Google to learn the name of the anonymous blogger on the grounds that the post was defamatory and libelous. A New York Supreme Court judge ordered Google to reveal the anonymous blogger's name, and Google complied.

The case provided insight into the debate between the competing values of privacy and free speech, said Jeffrey Toobin, CNN's senior legal analyst.

"You have a robust debate on a million different subjects every day on the Internet," he said. "But on the other hand, is that a license to damage people's reputation with knowing falsehood?"

The courts are trying to strike a balance between the two, Toobin said.

"There have been a lot of cases about trying to get behind the anonymity of the Internet," he said. "What the courts are ... saying is that you have to show good reason, you can't just frivolously ask."

Nicholas Thompson of Wired magazine said such cases make it clear that anonymity on the Web does not necessarily guarantee a measure of immunity.

"The more people learn about it, the more they're going to realize that laws do apply online," he said.

More HERE from CNN


Tuesday, November 3, 2009

Local Salisbury News Blogger goes Live on TV

Long time blogger Joe Albero of Salisburynews
will be going live on a local broadcasting network WRDE.

For those out there that may be interested it has been brought to the attention of the PPE that local blogger Joe Albero has now stepped out from behind his keyboard and is trying his hand at live television.



According to the SBYnews blog the show will air Saturday morning at 10:30 AM on the following channels;

COMCAST Channel 9

Mediacom Channel 99

Digital TV Channel 31.1

Monday, October 26, 2009

Arrested Blogger; Seized Computers Returned

A blogger was arrested earlier this year and their equipment was seized during a raid of the home, all equipment that could be connected to the internet was confiscated and after months just recently returned. Albeit a bit messy at least they have their stuff back.

Although every piece was adorned with highly adhesive evidence tape and marker the blogger was happy that the items even were returned in one piece.

This has been a very controversial situation from the day the troops stormed the bloggers home and snatched their belongings. Why so? Because the blogger posted 'public information' .... information that anyone can access VIA the internet or simply by their eyes while in public.

Is this the beginning of an attack on our freedom of speech? The blogger was made to remove the public information from their blog but the same information is throughout the internet for all that wishes to see.

Below is a snip and a couple of pictures.







It seems every time anyone in law enforcement did anything with it, they slapped on a new icky sticky strip and initialed it. With a dang Sharpie!


My laptop was not spared the wrath of the everlasting black marker either.

Read the rest of the story HERE
Then HERE