Good afternoon,
I would like to know if a taped conversation on the phone is admissible in court?

It happpened like this. First Incident - My husband's Aunt called up a relative of hers, that she has problem with, and had a very nasty conversation with her on the phone. The relative taped their conversation, without her knowledge. Second Incident - The same Aunt called up the same relative but got an answering machine. She, then, left a nasty message in the answering machine. The same relative taped the message again and is now going around letting other people listen to it.
What can my husband's Aunt do to stop her doing it? Isn't this illegal to taped a conversation without notifying and getting permission from the other party? How about the message she left on the answering machine?
She's asking for my help but I don't know what to tell her.
Please advise what action to take. Thank you.

BGirlBlue

I think the messages left on the answering machine may be admissible.
Taping without her knowledge is not but I have heard of Judges that will take them to their chambers and listen to them to have an idea of what is going on but aren't really allowed to let it sway their decision.
It sounds rather childish for the relative to go around letting others listen to it.
Maybe The best thing to do is for the aunt to watch her words and temper with this relative or even cut off all contact.

Federal law allows recording of phone calls and other electronic communications with the consent of at least one party to the call. A majority of the states and territories have adopted wiretapping statutes based on the federal law, although most also have extended the law to cover in-person conversations. Thirty-eight states and the District of Columbia permit individuals to record conversations to which they are a party without informing the other parties that they are doing so. These laws are referred to as "one-party consent" statutes, and as long as you are a party to the conversation, it is legal for you to record it. (Nevada also has a one-party consent statute, but the state Supreme Court has interpreted it as an all-party rule.)

Twelve states require, under most circumstances, the consent of all parties to a conversation. Those jurisdictions are California, Connecticut, Florida, Illinois, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Montana, Nevada, New Hampshire, Pennsylvania and Washington. Be aware that you will sometimes hear these referred to inaccurately as "two-party consent" laws. If there are more than two people involved in the conversation, all must consent to the taping.



The above came from:

"Can We Tape?" (http://www.rcfp.org/taping/)

Go there to get state specific law.

I'd say in regards to the answering machine call, that would be considered consent by both. The caller knew it was an answering machine and knew it records your message and left the message anyhow.