Prometheus 6

Ex-Columnist Will Not Be Tried for Taping Call
By TERRY AGUAYO

MIAMI, Sept. 9 - A former columnist for The Miami Herald will not be prosecuted for taping a phone conversation with a former politician without his knowledge shortly before the man killed himself, the district attorney said.

The columnist, Jim DeFede, "admitted to the unconsented taping and cooperated with law enforcement in explaining his actions," the Miami-Dade assistant state attorney, Joseph M. Centorino, wrote.

While Mr. DeFede, 42, may have violated a Florida law requiring that "all parties must consent to the recording or disclosure of the contents of any wire, oral or electronic communication," prosecutors said he did not tape the conversation with the former politician, Arthur Teele Jr., for his own advantage.

Mr. Teele, a former city and county commissioner who had been indicted on federal charges of mail fraud, wire fraud and money laundering, committed suicide in July in The Herald's lobby, shortly after the anguished phone conversation with Mr. DeFede, a friend of 14 years.

"There appears to have been no malicious intent on the part of Mr. DeFede to violate the privacy rights of Mr. Teele, or to utilize the tape for any commercial purpose or to harm or embarrass Mr. Teele," Mr. Centorino wrote.