Texas Appeals Court Looks to Federal Case Law in Acquitting Mom Who Taped Coach’s Speeches in Wiretap Statute Case

A Texas state appeals court has reversed a trial court and found that a school board member did not violate that state’s wiretap statute when she had her daughter record the half-time and post-game speeches of the school’s high school basketball coach.   The court reasoned that the coach did not have “a reasonable expectation of privacy under the circumstances” and that the recordings were not "oral communications" covered by the statute.   Lelon "Skip" Townsend was hired in 20