Man finds wife is having an affair by reading her email; gets charged with a felony

[hooloovoo]

http://abcnews.go.com/Technology/ema...2488956&page=1

Could someone face prison time for snooping through a spouse's e-mails? For Leon Walker of Michigan, the answer was yes.

Suspecting that his wife was involved with another man, and worried that it was affecting their daughter, Walker logged into Clara Walker's Gmail account last summer.

Walker, 33, said it was easy for him to log in because his wife kept the password in a book next to the computer.

"I definitely felt it was OK to confirm [the affair] by reading her e-mail in our home," said Walker.

While Walker believed it was OK, Oakland County prosecutors did not and have charged Walker with felony misuse of a computer. If convicted, he could face up to five years in prison.

This is Michigan's first criminal prosecution for snooping through a spouse's e-mails. So far, two Michigan judges have refused to toss out the charges in the potentially precedent-setting case.

"It's outrageous. It's insane," Walker, who is now divorced, told ABC News.

Prosecutors contend that Walker -- who is a computer technician -- illegally hacked into his wife's computer after she had filed for divorce, but Walker's lawyer calls the prosecution's claim an overzealous application of a law meant to protect trade secrets and credit card data.

"People who live under the same roof, be they married or not, and who share a computer -- as in this instance -- they may have some personal privacy lines that they adhere to. And if they don't, that's between the two individuals," defense attorney Leon Weiss said.

"The word 'e-mail' does not appear in this statute. This is an anti-hacking statute," Weiss said. "It does not, in any way, shape or form encompass reading somebody's e-mail."

Prosecutors scoff at defense claims that Walker is a victim.

"Apparently, they are trying the case in the media, because they are not doing so well in the courts," Oakland County prosecutor Jessica Cooper said in a statement.

While Walker's case is a first for Michigan, it is not the first time the privacy between a husband and wife has become a matter for the courts. Federal privacy laws state that even with a shared computer, password protected e-mail accounts are private, unless one of the parties allows access.

"The law is a simple unauthorized access law: It prohibits unauthorized viewing of someone else's password-protected files," said Orin Kerr, an Internet legal expert. "The legal issue here would be whether the wife gave the man permission to view her account. If she did not, this is a pretty straightforward."

And experts say the same law would apply to other forms of communication, including a letter addressed to your spouse.

"If you give them permission, you can do anything you want to. But if you don't, it might be a crime," said Perry Aftab, a privacy lawyer.

Walker will face trial Feb. 7 in a case that could set bold new boundaries in the murky area of privacy between a husband and a wife.

What do you all think about this? I agree with the man's lawyer, I think this is an absolutely absurd application of an anti-hacking law- particularly considering they are married, live in the same house and use the same computer.

If I was a Michigan tax payer, I would be pissed that the court is using my money to uphold cases like this rather than dismissing them as nonsense.

[THIS IS IMPORTANT GODDAMNIT]

im with you on this one

[FrY]

He could of just as easily said it was already logged in.

Although I doubt he thought it would be taken to court as if he did something wrong.

[King of the world]

it would have been extremely less likely to have been an imprisonment if it was a woman who did it

[thatsMYdog]

That's so messed up. He probably just needed evidence for divorce court to protect himself/assets.

[Vizier]

Another instance of "america, fuck yeah".

[Satyr]

Originally Posted by Negrophobe

it would have been extremely less likely to have been an imprisonment if it was a woman who did it

I never thought it would happen, but I have to agree with you on this one..

[upinsmoke]

You know what? The authorities "Correct me if i am wrong" try to get people arrested and charged for as many offenses as possible for two reasons

1: the money
2: Free slave Labor because they make prisoners work for next to nothing in prison and they have no say in it.

Its a joke.

How is it even hacking reading someones password from a book that is next to the computer.
What a joke

[Winter]

wtf lol. Thats bullshit.

And i agree, if it was the other way around, the woman wouldve been supported.

Judges now: You shouldnt have snooped through her shit asshole! Its your fault! It dosnt matter if she cheated on you! You have no say!

Judges if roles were reversed: Yeah woman power! You caught that lying cheat of an asshole! You totally have every right to go through his e-mails!

[hooloovoo]

Originally Posted by Negrophobe

it would have been extremely less likely to have been an imprisonment if it was a woman who did it

Yes, thank you. If you look at the video the guy is also a black man- holy shit! More fodder for zoklet prejudice!

But let's keep this discussion on privacy laws, and when it is or isn't appropriate for the government to interfere.

[Duelist]

there is no law prohibiting someone who is married to have another sexual relationship????

[Corey]

Originally Posted by Sexual Deviant

there is no law prohibiting someone who is married to have another sexual relationship????

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adultery#North_America


But this isn't even about is the woman guilty of anything...

[HAS]

Yet if the government spies on your emails it's okay!

[bigfoot]

he grassed himself up!

doin the prosecuters and police jobs for them = stupid= guilty

lock him up

less prison space for the rest of us

[gaspode]

The United States has 5% of the world's population, but approximately 25% of the world's incarcerated population.



http://theeconomiccollapseblog.com/a...g-arrested-for

[Slapshot]

Originally Posted by Corey

But this isn't even about is the woman guilty of anything...

worried that it was affecting their daughter

The woman is cheating on her husband with her ex, who was convicted of beating the shit out of her kids from her first marriage. Yea, she's a pig, and she's guilty of bringing her own children around a convicted child abuser.

[LSA King]

Good. I'm sorry it's the same IRL. It's like leaving my door open or having my keys in the car to warm my car up and you coming and stealing my car or coming inside my house. Am I a dumbass for being stupid enough to actually TRUST people not to break into or steal my shit in this fucked up world we live in? Yes, an absolute dumbass for trusting a human to be civil. However, that doesn't justify or give you the right to break into or steal my shit. This is why we have laws in the first fucking place, we aren't Vikings or Heathens. We are supposed to be civilized. I don't give a fuck if she or he knew the password, it was the same computer (which means shit), they made the choice to invade another persons privacy, period end of story.

Now, we wait for the courts to uphold this against the Federal Government which recently ruled Email snooping is against the law without a court order. Oh yeah, call this an act of stupidity on the courts and yet the courts just upheld your civil rights. Just shows how fucking stupid humanity is, we're never fucking satisfied or think things through we just go on random mindless rants complaining and complaining like a bunch 1 year olds when the teet was pulled away from our sucking mouths.

[Arcade]

If this was a case where the husband cheated and the wife snooped through the emails to find out she would be praised by the media for being a strong beautiful woman with the instincts of a highly trained detective.

I was at walmart the other day and while waiting in line checking out the magazine covers I noticed people magazine gave sandra bullock the woman of the year cover, haha why? because she got cheated on? lol sickening

[Nero]

Originally Posted by Vizier

Another instance of "america, fuck yeah".

It's not America, you fucking borderline-retarded wetback. It's everywhere. Left-wing liberalism has infected the whole world. White males are getting fucked over in every single western-cultured country.

I've noticed this a lot with you and zuperxtreme. Are the spics just catching on to the whole "fuck Amerikkka!!1" thing? That's so '90s. Are you people, as a culture, planning a new foray into intellectualism or something?

Yeah, if I was you, I'd just play it safe and sit this one out.

[hooloovoo]

Originally Posted by LSA King

Good. I'm sorry it's the same IRL. It's like leaving my door open or having my keys in the car to warm my car up and you coming and stealing my car or coming inside my house. Am I a dumbass for being stupid enough to actually TRUST people not to break into or steal my shit in this fucked up world we live in?

If your spouse walked into your house or used your car, no one in their right mind would consider it stealing or breaking and entering.

[Struwwelpeter]

LMFAO. What a punk ass bitch. I am willing to bet you came to the conclusion that all white males are "getting fucked" (hmm) in Western countries after you were refused entry in to a Jay-Z concert because you didn't have tickets.

Speaking of intellectualism, the man in this case, Leon Walker, is black.


You are such a disgrace. You need to stop advocating on behalf of White males. You are s dumbass queer. How about you do what is right for a change and wake up and realize that no White man in the world is worried about "getting fucked". Where do you think the ideals of female equality/privilege, racial integration, a sadomasochistic law enforcement system and so forth originated? I'll give you a hint, it wasn't women who concocted this deviancy. They are far too fickle to achieve something of this magnitude. It was White men. These are White male values. White male conservative values, in fact. Whenever I see you on here advocating on behalf White males as if they are an endangered species, I know you are doing it because you want to get a rise out of people and feel special and important. You are a picture perfect example of the psychological degeneracy of the age 13-35 age group in the world. You are crybabies, attention whores, rebellious, repulsive, drug addicted, weak and often genetically retarded due to your parent's drug abuse in the 60s, 70s and 80s. Maybe instead of sucking White make cock all day long you could do what Negrophobe does and go trash women and really pinch people's pressure points and hurt their worthless feelings. He's out there on the front lines fighting, you just sit in the bleachers and talk shit all day long.

Originally Posted by Chi

It's not America, you fucking borderline-retarded wetback. It's everywhere. Left-wing liberalism has infected the whole world. White males are getting fucked over in every single western-cultured country.

I've noticed this a lot with you and zuperxtreme. Are the spics just catching on to the whole "fuck Amerikkka!!1" thing? That's so '90s. Are you people, as a culture, planning a new foray into intellectualism or something?

Yeah, if I was you, I'd just play it safe and sit this one out.

[Tunicate]

Originally Posted by Corey

But this isn't even about is the woman guilty of anything...

None of the adultery laws in the U.S. are enforced unless there is a property or custody battle in full swing, then they are "factors taken into consideration". No, the woman is guilty of being retarded. No one should be snooping through people's emails, it's just low class, but she left herself open for it when she left her password lying around. In defense of the courts, it seems like there's a whole bunch of lying going on and they tried to find a charge/law that would suit most of the hypothetical needs of the case. I can't quite tell if the ex wife is saying that snooping necessitates hacking....Or maybe she's suggesting that the husband's able to hack her password because he's a computer tech, and she's trying to deflect from the whole idea that she had her password written down. That's kind of what I got from it.

[LSA King]

Originally Posted by hooloovoo

If your spouse walked into your house or used your car, no one in their right mind would consider it stealing or breaking and entering.

Well that along with this issue is another legal issue with the entire institution of government sanctioned "marriage". If the car was in my name, the car was something I paid for, and the insurance was mine you damn right that is MY personal property. It's a luxury not a RIGHT for her to drive it, period. We are talking about email here, remember stealing peoples mail from a mailbox is considered a Federal crime and can result in being sent to pound-me-in-the-ass prison and has in the past. Really this is a matter of legality with marriage as an institution than anything else. Spouse or not I'd never want anyone to check my personal email whether they had or knew the password or not. The only instance I'd allow someone (spouse included) to invade my privacy is if I gave the go ahead or had stipulations where they had the freedom to do it in one particular instance.

Again, this isn't the first issue that arises with that worthless institution called "marriage". Bank accounts and divorce are probably the most known cases. This news article was meant to do nothing more than mock our personal rights, privacy, and freedoms by showing how those Constitution loving nuts are off their rocker. The fact they used "hacking" because the guy was computer literate, is off the walls though.

Sometimes it's nice being single not having to worry about this bullshit that relationships cause. I'd probably shoot the mother fucker that did this to me. If you've ever left your PC unattended without locking it and come back to find your buddy snooping on your shit (which happens a lot when you live around people) you tend to get a little pissed off even if you have nothing to hide. It's just an invasion plain and simple and the snooper should know better. Ignorance is not an excuse for anything.

[Struwwelpeter]

Yes, LSA King, relationships do not work anymore, best to avoid them. The reason being the inherent genetic inferiority of 99% of people under the she of 65. People these days can't make anything work, they cannot do anything right, they are totally inferior. We have gang violence, obesity, drug addiction, STDs, divorce is skyrocketing, the economy is collapsing, everything is falling apart. And we're supposed to be proud. Proud, because this is the New World, where we worship degeneracy. We had the Greatest Generation and then after that people just kept pushing out these little methhead babies. Must have been WW2 that caused it. All women are nothing but a bunch of money grubbing, titty-baby cunts who deserve to be stripped of their clothes, gutshot and plowed for fertilizer. I'm Jim "fuck latinos" Carrey and I'm running for Governor. Happy New Year.

[Rust]

Originally Posted by Chi

I've noticed this a lot with you and zuperxtreme. Are the spics just catching on to the whole "fuck Amerikkka!!1" thing? That's so '90s. Are you people, as a culture, planning a new foray into intellectualism or something?

Says the kid who's so quick to cry "Them darn Liberals!" when this transcends anything to do with liberalism, as it has to do with views of property rights in general. If anything, it's the conservatives who claim to properly preserve individual property rights.

[Rust]

Originally Posted by hooloovoo

If your spouse walked into your house or used your car, no one in their right mind would consider it stealing or breaking and entering.

Because the car is considered communal property of marriage, where as, according to the Supreme Court of the US, individuals have a constitutional right to privacy; a right that surpasses any marriage contract.

I'll quote an excerpt from a journal article dealing with this subject:

III. Husband/Wife Eavesdropping
A. Eavesdropping as a Violation of Federal Wiretap Law

Title III of the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets Act of 1968 (the Wiretap Act) prohibits the interception of "wire or oral" communications unless one party to the communication consented to the interception. n37 The original 1968 Wiretap Act restricted "wire communications" to those transmitted by telephone [*118] companies licensed by the FCC, n38 while "oral communications" were those that took place face-to-face.
Congress amended the Wiretap Act with the Electronic Communications and Privacy Act of 1986 (ECPA) to also prohibit the intentional interception of electronic communications. n39 Congress also addressed other privacy concerns in new technologies.
Briefly, the ECPA is divided into three titles. n40 Title I is the former Wiretap Act. The ECPA amended the Wiretap Act by, inter alia, adding the word "electronic" to the types of communications protected from interception, n41 as well as by amending the definition of interception to include more than just aural forms of interception. n42 Title II of the ECPA, generally referred to as the Stored Communications Act, n43 is an entirely new title that prohibits anyone but an authorized user from accessing stored electronic communications, including e-mail and voice mail. n44
Thus, the ECPA Amendments now divide the former Wiretap Act into Title I, II, and III. The former Title III of the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets Act is now Title I of the ECPA. Title I of the ECPA now regulates the interception of any conversation, including electronic conversations. Title II of the ECPA regulates access to stored e-mail, fax communications, and voicemail.
What is essential to remember for this discussion is that there is no "interspousal immunity" for wiretapping under the statute. n45 Rather, individuals, though in a marital relationship, [*119] have an individual expectation of privacy in communications covered by eavesdropping and wiretapping laws that the marital relationship does not obviate.

B. Eavesdropping as the Tort of Invasion of Privacy

The largest areas of non-governmental spying are commercial espionage and spying between husbands and wives. n46 In the quaint world before e-mail, in Hamberger v. Eastman, n47 a typical case concerning tape recording, the court held that a landlord had committed the tort of invasion of privacy by implanting a [*120] listening device in the wall of the marital bedroom of his tenants, the plaintiffs who were husband and wife. n48

More recently, husbands and wives have taken to cybersnooping, i.e., looking into each other's computers and e-mails. n49 In White v. White, n50 the court had the opportunity to discuss whether the wife's actions in accessing the husband's e-mail on his computer constituted intrusion upon seclusion under the Restatement's section 652B. The court first noted that an intrusion may be:

"by some other form of investigation or examination into his private concerns, as by opening his private and personal mail, searching his safe or his wallet, examining his private bank account, or by compelling him by a forged court order to permit an inspection of his personal documents. The intrusion itself makes the defendant subject to liability, even though there is no publication." n51

Thus, peering into one's e-mails may, under certain circumstances, constitute an invasion of privacy.


"The Individual's Right of Privacy in a Marriage." Journal of the American Academy of Matrimonial Lawyers. 2010.

So the reality is that if the courts find there was an expectation of privacy concerning that e-mail account, the husband broke the law clear and simple.

[Nero]

Originally Posted by Rust

Says the kid who's so quick to cry "Them darn Liberals!" when this transcends anything to do with liberalism, as it has to do with views of property rights in general. If anything, it's the conservatives who claim to properly preserve individual property rights.

But wait a minute, aren't you a communist?

edit: Actually I would be a faggot to just insult you to avoid a real argument, so I acknowledge that it was stupid. I admit I only skimmed over the OP and dashed in my own misinformed opinions like "It wouldn't happen if it was a woman spying on a man!" and "White people are fantastic." That really just was an excuse to attack a mexican. And I regret nothing.

[Obbe]

what a bitch.

[Nero]

Originally Posted by Jim "fuck latinos" Carrey

LMFAO. What a punk ass bitch. I am willing to bet you came to the conclusion that all white males are "getting fucked" (hmm) in Western countries after you were refused entry in to a Jay-Z concert because you didn't have tickets.

Speaking of intellectualism, the man in this case, Leon Walker, is black.


You are such a disgrace. You need to stop advocating on behalf of White males. You are s dumbass queer. How about you do what is right for a change and wake up and realize that no White man in the world is worried about "getting fucked". Where do you think the ideals of female equality/privilege, racial integration, a sadomasochistic law enforcement system and so forth originated? I'll give you a hint, it wasn't women who concocted this deviancy. They are far too fickle to achieve something of this magnitude. It was White men. These are White male values. White male conservative values, in fact. Whenever I see you on here advocating on behalf White males as if they are an endangered species, I know you are doing it because you want to get a rise out of people and feel special and important. You are a picture perfect example of the psychological degeneracy of the age 13-35 age group in the world. You are crybabies, attention whores, rebellious, repulsive, drug addicted, weak and often genetically retarded due to your parent's drug abuse in the 60s, 70s and 80s. Maybe instead of sucking White make cock all day long you could do what Negrophobe does and go trash women and really pinch people's pressure points and hurt their worthless feelings. He's out there on the front lines fighting, you just sit in the bleachers and talk shit all day long.

But why troll Zoklet? This is just a shitty offshoot of a decent website. It's not popular and its userbase is small and generally not intelligent enough to understand your posts, anyway. It's even named after the alias of a fucking &T user. Considering you're so elaborate about it, I just think you have bigger fish to fry.

I'll forgive you if you have trolling templates that you just copy and paste to other forums, too. But on the whole, you're probably wasting your time here.

[Mutant Funk Drink]

This is the wold we live in, folks.

[m.060.mm]

Pff. He just needs evidence of her allowing him to log in previously.

Hearsay alone will be in his favor.

If he can't manage that, I'm sure he'll be fine anyway.

This is absolutely ridiculous.

[m.060.mm]

Originally Posted by Jim "fuck latinos" Carrey

LMFAO. What a punk ass bitch.
..
He's out there on the front lines fighting, you just sit in the bleachers and talk shit all day long.

He can't speak for a demographic but you can pigeonhole people all day based on generalities - even in a post condemning the idea.

Neither of you are right. Both of you are assholes.