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Is Reading Spouse's E-Mail a Crime?

Posted by timothy on from the ask-the-judge dept.

Hugh Pickens writes "The Detroit Free Press reports that Leon Walker is charged with unlawfully reading the e-mail of Ciara Walker, his wife at that time, which showed she was having an affair with her second husband, who once had been arrested for beating her in front of her son. Walker says he gave the e-mails to her first husband, the child's father, to protect the boy. 'I was doing what I had to do,' says Walker. 'We're talking about putting a child in danger.' Now prosecutors, relying on a Michigan statute typically used to prosecute crimes such as identity theft or stealing trade secrets, have charged Leon Walker with a felony for logging onto a laptop in the home he shared with his wife. Prosecutor Jessica Cooper defended her decision to charge Walker. 'The guy is a hacker,' says Cooper, adding that the Gmail account 'was password protected, he had wonderful skills, and was highly trained. Then he downloaded [the emails] and used them in a very contentious way.'"

4 of 496 comments (clear)

  1. Stupid prosecution by Attila+Dimedici · · Score: 5, Interesting

    I think it is ridiculous that this is being brought as a criminal prosecution. If his ex-wife had brought a civil suit, I would still think he should win, but that would be a sensible case. The man's fear of the child being exposed to domestic violence (possibly even physical abuse of the child) was perfectly legitimate. I would really like to know why the prosecutor is really going after this man. It sounds personal.

    --
    The truth is that all men having power ought to be mistrusted. James Madison
  2. Cooper might not be sexist, just incompetent by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Interesting

    Here is another case where she made a big mistake, was proven wrong by evidence and wouldn't admit that she made a mistake. http://www.mlive.com/news/detroit/index.ssf/2010/09/did_oakland_county_prosecutor.html http://www.myfoxdetroit.com/dpp/news/local/prosecutor-laura-johnson-freed-murder-evidence-not-enough-20100927-wpms

  3. Re:Is opening a spouses mail a crime? by easterberry · · Score: 5, Interesting

    Santa Letters in Canada are distributed to volunteers (mostly post office staff and the family thereof) who read them and write responses according to specific sets of rules and guidelines. My family does it every year since my father's a post man. It's fun.

  4. Re:Are you guys really loosing it in the U.S? by Nursie · · Score: 5, Interesting

    My wife has all my passwords: email, login, local admin, server roots, domain, banking logins, etc, etc. I gave them to her especially BECAUSE I trust her.

    Did you do that because you wanted to or because she asked and made it into a trust issue?