Intercepting Oral Communication

Section 934.03(1)(a), Fla. Stat., provides in relevant part:


 * (1) Except as otherwise specifically provided in this chapter, any person who:
 * (a) Intentionally intercepts, [or] endeavors to intercept...any...oral conversation; . . . shall be punished as provided in subsection (4).

Fla. Stat. Ann. § 934.03(4). Subsection (4) classifies the offense as a third degree felony.

Section 934.02(3) defines “intercept” as “the aural or other acquisition of the contents of any...oral communication through the use of any electronic, mechanical, or other device.” The Florida Supreme Court has held that Section 934.03 prohibits the tape recording of a face-to-face conversation in which one is participating without the consent of all parties. See State v. Tsavaris, Case::394 So. 2d 418, 420 (Fla. 1981).

Section 934.02(2) defines oral communication as:
 * any oral communication uttered buy a person exhibiting an expectation that such communication is not subject to interception under such circumstances justifying such expectation and does not mean any public oral communication uttered at a public meeting or any electronic communication.

F.S.A. § 934.02(2). The Florida Supreme Court has held that this definition is analogous to the Fourth Amendment standard for reasonable expectation of privacy. See Stevenson v. State, Case::667 So. 2d 410, 412 (Fla. Dist. Ct. App. 1996). Where the speaker has a subjective expectation of privacy and that expectation is objectively reasonable, “the statute has been violated whether the intercepted communication is private in nature or not.” Id. at 412 (citation omitted).