Commonwealth v. Thanh Du

Summary

The court held that when police unlawfully make a warrantless audio-visual recording of an oral communication, the wiretap act requires suppression of the entire recording, including its video component. The statutory definition of suppressible contents includes information identifying a communication participant and showing the existence of the communication, and suppressing the video advances the statute's deterrent purpose. The court affirmed suppression of the audio and reversed the order permitting the silent video to be admitted.