Illegal Wiretapping - A Headache You Don’t Need in Your Divorce
A recent story in the International Herald Tribune described how an ex-wife of health company mogul, Mark Hughes, testified that she hired Anthony Pellicano, a private investigator, during the couple’s divorce case, but did not authorize him to use a wiretap on the Herbalife co-founder.
Suzan Hughes said that she was played a tape of a phone call Pellicano illegally intercepted between Hughes and Bill Gillespie, the husband of her sister. After hearing the tape, was convinced Gillespie was not on her side in the divorce battle.
Pellicano, 64, has been accused of running a criminal enterprise, which has taken actions such as tapping phones and bribing police to gather dirt on celebrities such as Sylvester Stallone and Gary Shandling in order to aid his clients in gaining an advantage in legal and other disputes. Pellicano and four co-defendants pled not guilty to various charges.
According to the prosecution, between September 1997 and March 1998, Pellicano listened to the telephone calls of Hughes.
During her testimony Suzan Hughes also said that during her divorce proceedings in the late 1990s, she had hired Pellicano to investigate Hughes and Darcy LaPier, his mistress at the time. LaPier, ex-wife of actor Jean-Claude Van Damme, later married Hughes.
In May of 2000, Hughes passed away due to an overdose of alcohol and anti-depressant medication. Last year, his estate filed a civil suit against Suzan Hughes, Pellicano, and others in connection with the wiretapping. That case is still pending.
Actor Keith Carradine also testified. Sandra Will Carradine, his former wife, hired Pellicano in order to investigate him during a bitter court proceeding. She pled guilty to two perjury counts and is expected to be called as a witness for the prosecution next week.
There is a lesson here for everyone going through a divorce in New York: It is illegal (read: criminal) to record phone calls between your spouse and another party. It is generally permissible to record telephone conversations to which you are a party. However, please talk to your divorce lawyer about when it is and is not legally permissible to record phone calls before you do.
