Video Surveillance Ruled Admissible as Evidence
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A federal appeals court ruled Tuesday that videotape surveillance is legal and may be used as evidence in the pending trial of 11 people charged with laundering $312 million in drug money through the downtown Los Angeles jewelry district.
The U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals reversed a March, 1990, decision of U.S. District Court Judge Consuelo B. Marshall, who found that hundreds of hours of surveillance videotapes from Los Angeles and New York were inadmissible.
The appellate judges said the federal law regulating electronic surveillance permits videotape surveillance even though it is not specifically mentioned in the statute.
The ruling clears the way for trial to begin for Wanis Koyomejian, the owner of a Los Angeles jewelry company, and 10 others. However, defense lawyers said they would ask the appeals court for a rehearing of the surveillance question, and, if that fails, appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court.
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