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Barlow v. Barlow

Husband could not introduce recording of his wife's cordless telephone conversation with another in their divorce action, since O.C.G.A. § 16-11-62 4 prohibits interception of such calls and she had a reasonable expectation of privacy in that call.

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In this divorce action, Ronnie Barlow sought to introduce a neighbor’s tape recording of a cordless telephone conversation between his wife Elaine Barlow and another person. The trial court denied the wife’s motion to suppress the recording, but certified its order for immediate review. We granted an interlocutory appeal to determine whether a tape recording of a cordless telephone conversation that is intercepted by a person who is not a party to the conversation is admissible into evidence. Because Georgia law entitles a person who talks on a cordless home telephone to have a reasonable expectation of privacy, we hold that the husband may not introduce his wife’s recorded telephone conversation into evidence.

1. OCGA § 16-11-62 4 states that it shall be unlawful for “any person intentionally and secretly to intercept by the use of any device, instrument, or apparatus the contents of a message sent by telephone, telegraph, letter, or by any other means of private communication.” The dictionary defines a telephone as “an instrument for reproducing sounds especially articulate speech at a distance” or “any of various devices as a sound-signalling device or a speaking tube resembling or suggesting the telephone.”1 Applying the plain meaning of the word “telephone,” the statute covers Mrs. Barlow’s conversation on her cordless telephone.2

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