Court: Out-Going Call Needed Consent to Record

A Florida appellate court has overturned the assault conviction of a man who was telephoned by a county 911 dispatcher, saying state law narrowly restricts the non-consent recording of out-going calls to those numbers that have already dialed 911. In this case, the original 911 call came from a woman reporting her daughter was being assaulted by her husband, and gave the Escambia County dispatcher the telephone number for the daughter at another location. The dispatcher then called that number, which was answered by the husband. There was screaming and yelling in the background of the call, and the dispatcher heard the husband verbally threaten to shoot his wife and himself. Deputies responded and arrested the husband for the assault and drug possession. The husband appealed his guilty plea, saying the call to his house was recorded, which is not permitted by Florida law without his consent. The District Court of Appeal agreed, saying the legislature had specifically granted certain exceptions to the state’s prohibition on recording phone calls, including incoming 911 calls, and out-going calls from a dispatcher to the same telephone number that dialed 911 (in the case a call was dropped, for example). The court noted that dispatchers can make out-going calls and record them, but they must obtain the consent of the person with whom they speak. In this case, the number dialed was different than the original 911 call, and consent was not obtained from the husband to record the call. Download (pdf) the full appellate court ruling here.