Tiawanda Moore acquitted of illegally taping police

It was a pretty clear case of police and prosecutorial abuse.
Fortunately the jury saw through the attempt to suppress evidence of police misconduct and acquitted her.

A former stripper, who secretly recorded two Chicago Police Internal Affairs investigators while filing a sexual harassment complaint against another officer was acquitted on eavesdropping charges Wednesday.

“I’m feeling a lot better now,” a smiling Tiawanda Moore said after a Cook County jury returned the verdict in a little over an hour.

The 20-year-old Indiana woman admitted she taped the officers on her Blackberry in August of last year. But she said she only did it because the investigators were coaxing her to not go forward with her complaint.

Rather than passing laws to protect corrupt police, US legislatures should insist that without exception every police interview be recorded using a tamper proof technology. The UK police resisted a similar measure when it was pushed through many years ago. Today they consider recording interviews to be an essential tool for gaining convictions.