(a)  Any investigative or law enforcement officer who, by any means authorized by this chapter, has obtained knowledge of the contents of any wire, electronic, or oral communication, or evidence derived from them, may disclose the contents to another investigative or law enforcement officer to the extent that disclosure is appropriate to the proper performance of the official duties of the officer making or receiving the disclosure.

Terms Used In Rhode Island General Laws 12-5.1-10

  • Contents: when used with respect to any wire, electronic, or oral communication, includes any information concerning the identity of the parties to that communication or the existence, substance, purport, or meaning of that communication. See Rhode Island General Laws 12-5.1-1
  • Evidence: Information presented in testimony or in documents that is used to persuade the fact finder (judge or jury) to decide the case for one side or the other.
  • Grand jury: agreement providing that a lender will delay exercising its rights (in the case of a mortgage,
  • Investigative or law enforcement officer: means any officer of the United States, this state, or a political subdivision of this state, who is empowered by law to conduct investigations of, or to make arrests for, the designated offenses, the attorney general, and his or her assistants. See Rhode Island General Laws 12-5.1-1
  • Person: means any individual, partnership, association, joint stock company, trust, or corporation, whether or not any of the foregoing is an officer, agent, or employee of the United States, a state, or a political subdivision of a state. See Rhode Island General Laws 12-5.1-1
  • Testimony: Evidence presented orally by witnesses during trials or before grand juries.
  • United States: include the several states and the territories of the United States. See Rhode Island General Laws 43-3-8

(b)  Any investigative or law enforcement officer who, by any means authorized by this chapter, has obtained knowledge of the contents of any wire, electronic, or oral communication or evidence derived from them may use the contents to the extent that their use is appropriate to the proper performance of his or her official duties.

(c)  Any person who has received, by any means authorized by this chapter, any information concerning a wire, electronic, or oral communication, or evidence derived from them intercepted in accordance with the provisions of this chapter may disclose the contents of that communication or the derivative evidence while giving testimony under oath or affirmation in any criminal proceeding in any court of the United States or of this or any other state or in any federal or state grand jury proceeding.

(d)  No otherwise privileged wire, electronic, or oral communication intercepted in accordance with, or in violation of, the provisions of this chapter shall lose its privileged character.

History of Section.
P.L. 1969, ch. 55, § 1; P.L. 1999, ch. 167, § 2.