Maryland Judge Throws Out Wiretapping Charges Against Anthony Graber

As the title says, wiretapping charges against Anthony Graber have been thrown out. In March 2010, Graber was pulled over for speeding on his motorcycle, when he was pulled over by an out-of-control plain-clothes officer. The incident was filmed with Graber's helmet-cam. After it was posted on YouTube, the state retaliated against Graber, charging him with wiretapping, raiding his home and seizing his computers.



According to the Baltimore Sun...

"Those of us who are public officials and are entrusted with the power of the state are ultimately accountable to the public," the judge wrote. "When we exercise that power in public fora, we should not expect our actions to be shielded from public observation."

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This is a great day for our civil rights.

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Finally a judge who respects our (citizens) rights! We need to see more of this.

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Originally posted by thov420
Finally a judge who respects our (citizens) rights! We need to see more of this.

And one who understands the intent of the Founding Fathers. No public official (except in the most extreme and limited cases) has a reasonable expectation of privacy when conducting affairs of their office; their affairs are the people's affairs.

You are so right. We pay their salaries, so they are accountable to us. The people should not fear their government, the government should fear the people! Not sure who said it, Jackson maybe?, but it hits home in so many ways.

I'll bet that cop is mad as # over that one.

Wonder how much money this cost the citizen, not to mention the mental stress. Bet he doesn't get his computers back, or if he does they will come back broken.

But the Judge did make the right call, thank goodness.

I was about to post this too. The judge had already expressed his opinion in favor of Graber before this trial. This is very good news for other people who are charged with the same offense. Also isn't it so that now that he has won the prosecution has to pay all his expenses?

Now, why couldn't someone like this be appointed SCJ?

There are good ones out there, they are just few and far between.

Does everyone like the one where they get to place a GPS on your vehicle and they are allowed to track you by your phone, all without a warrant?

reply to post by PsykoOps


If this judge expressed his opinion before the trial began you can bet there will be an appeal and the state will say he was biased and should have removed himself as judge.

I doubt that. He didn't go overboard with his statements. PINAC has the story if you're interested.