Eavesdropping: Fill & Download for Free

I learned of my mother’s rape via eavesdropping.I was probably about 12 or 13. The same age she was when it occurred.She and my stepdad were fighting. Not an uncommon occurrence. And our bedrooms were separated by only a five foot hallway.Their voices woke me up and it took me a minute to even understand what they were talking about.My stepdad was telling her that it must have been her fault that she was raped. That she must have been dressed like a slut.My mother, her voice full of tears, described what she was wearing, from her khaki pants to the penny loafers on her feet.He told her she must have been “acting a whore” because men “just didn’t act that way unprovoked.”She said she was waiting in line to ride a ride at the fair.He told her she must have wanted it.She said she fought so hard, it took four boys to hold her down.He told her it was her fault.And she cried, “And this is exactly why I never told anyone.”It took me over 10 years to tell her that I knew. To hug her and tell her it wasn’t her fault. That some men do bad things.And when a random conversation with my tween daughters led in that direction, I was open and honest with them. I explained, in the simplest terms possible, that grandma’s “first time” was rape.Not because I wanted to scare them. But because I want them to know that it happens. And when it does happen, it fucking sucks, but it’s nothing to be ashamed of. And that it’s not their fault.And that they can come to me without judgement.Because rape is never the victim’s fault.Regardless of what the rest of the world says.

Eavesdropping in a murder case.This happened in a case in my home state. It was a murder case where the police were investigating a missing person report where a husband reported his wife missing. Police thought she may have been murdered and asked for consent to search the man’s home and grounds. The search revealed nothing.The man then flew to California to see his son. While he was gone police developed new information from a psychic regarding the wife’s whereabouts. The Psychic went to the man’s yard and pointed to the picnic table and said dig.Working off the original written consent, given days earlier they dug under the picnic table and located the wife's body in a shallow grave.The following day the man was arrested and requested a lawyer. During these conversations between the man and his lawyer, the police lieutenant in charge of detectives, went to his office with the County Prosecutors' office Chief of Detectives.There they activated a hidden microphone and listened in on the conversation. The case detective was also present and took notes. The conversation was also recorded. As a result of the information they overhead, they obtained a search warrant and searched the man's house finding additional incriminating evidence.Word of the illegal eavesdropping was passed from the Chief of Detectives to the Prosecutor. The Prosecutor had the good sense to report the conduct to the Attorney General. That office relieved the local PD and County Prosecutors Office of investigative powers in the case.The state took the matter to trial and quickly lost as one of the tainted detectives who took notes during the eavesdropping, also completed the original and only consent to search form. Without it, there was no discovery of a body. The other incriminating evidence located with the search warrant was suppressed as it was the product of the illegal eavesdropping.The case moved through the courts several times before it was finally decided that the inevitable discovery exception to the exclusionary rule applied to this case.The body was buried in a shallow grave, which would have killed the vegetation, and would have caused a depression in the soil. Additionally, the body would have produced an odor.Another factor was the man was in the process of selling the house. It was ruled that the new owners would have found the wife’s body and thus the inevitable discovery exception applied.The admissibility of the body was of specific importance because the wife had been poisoned by several drugs that the husband had purchased a month earlier.The Lieutenant who initiated the eavesdropping was convicted of Official Misconduct but received only a large fine and probation. The Man who poisoned his wife and buried her under a picnic table got 30 years.Author of the 2020 book “One Cop’s Life” available on amazon

I don’t know if it counts as “overhearing,” because it was said directly as part of an online conversation rather than something I was eavesdropping on, but the worst thing I’ve heard a Trump supporter say (paraphrasing) is “I don’t care if Trump conspired with the Russians. I don’t care if Trump ruins the economy and trashes the country. I’m still glad he won just to take those arrogant liberals down.”