AG rules taped conversations legal

SACRAMENTO, Nov. 11 (UPI) -- A former spokesman for California Attorney General Jerry Brown did not break the law by secretly taping talks with reporters, Brown's office said.

Scott Gerber, who resigned last week, was accused of violating state penal code section 632 by recording six conversations with five reporters this year without asking for consent. Code section 632 prohibits intentional recording without the consent of other people in a telephone conversation.

The protection of such communication, however, does not include on-the-record media interviews, Chief Assistant Attorney General Dane Gillette said after an internal investigation.

Gillette's view clashes with a state Supreme Court ruling, Flanagan vs. Flanagan, that found the law prohibited any non-consensual recording, regardless of its content, the California Republican Lawyers Association said Tuesday.

The controversy has garnered political attention because Brown is seen as the undeclared Democratic front-runner in California's 2010 gubernatorial election, The San Diego Union-Tribune reported Wednesday.