Prosecutors Looking Into Whether DeFede Violated Florida Taping Law

By: Joe Strupp Law enforcement officials in Florida say they are reviewing whether to prosecute Miami Herald columnist Jim DeFede, who was fired Wednesday after secretly taping a phone conversation with a former county commissioner who later killed himself.

A spokesman for State Attorney Katherine Fernandez Rundle of the 11th Judicial Circuit of Florida said her office is reviewing whether DeFede broke the law when he taped an interview on Wednesday with Arthur Teele Jr., minutes before Teele shot himself to death in the Herald's lobby.

"We are in the process of trying to accumulate information and evidence upon which a decision would ultimately be made," Griffith told E&P. "This is a preliminary step. We haven't made that decision."

DeFede told editors he had taped the conversation, at least part of which was reportedly off the record.

Florida is one of only about a dozen states that require both parties to consent to the taping of a phone conversation, legal experts said. The state's statute says that "all parties must consent to the recording or the disclosure of the contents of any wire, oral or electronic communication in Florida. Recording or disclosing without the consent of all parties is a felony" (unless it is a first offense, then it is a misdemeanor.)

The statute also states that "consent is not required for the taping" of someone "who does not have a reasonable expectation of privacy." That provision has caused some legal experts to question whether it could apply to a reporter interviewing a public official.

Speculation about the law began shortly after Wednesday's firing of DeFede, who lost his job during one of the most tragic and bizarre days in the paper's history. The incidents began when Teele shot himself to death in the newspaper's lobby, shortly after speaking with DeFede in a telephone interview.

Teele's suicide came just days after he had been arraigned on corruption charges and on the same day a scathing report in the alternative weekly Miami New Times was published outlining lewd details of Teele's alleged interaction with male prostitutes.

Griffith said the State Attorney's Office is reviewing the facts with local police and has no timeline for deciding if a prosecution would be pursued. "We look at every issue related to potential criminal behavior in this county," he said. "The Herald says there was a third degree felony that was committed and we are reviewing it."

Herald executives, meanwhile, met with staffers on Thursday to talk about the events of Wednesday, according to a story on the Herald Web site. The story said the paper's leaders "defended their decision to fire columnist Jim DeFede, saying that he not only probably broke the law by taping a source without his consent but also violated the newspaper's ethical standards."

"What Jim did was not in keeping with the ethics of our profession. Added to that, it was probably illegal," Publisher Jes?s D?az Jr., was quoted as telling staffers. "We have to hold ourselves to a higher standard."

Added Executive Editor Tom Fiedler, "He had broken a basic tenet of The Miami Herald. We abide by the law. We, as journalists operate in a world where we hold people to high standards and ourselves to higher standards."

DeFede could not be reached for comment.

Earlier Reports

Unfair Firing for 'Miami Herald' Columnist Who Taped Interview?
Former City Official Kills Himself in 'Miami Herald' Lobby