TEHACHAPI, Calif. — A former Tehachapi City Council candidate has been charged with felony eavesdropping.
According to court documents, James Clinton Davies, who ran unsuccessfully for a seat on the Tehachapi City Council in 2018, illegally video recorded a private conversation inside the Tehachapi Police Department and posted the video to a Facebook page called Tehachapi Rants and Raves.
California law requires two-party consent for any type of recording of communication, including a private conversation or telephone call.
The documents state Davies was recording in a restricted area of the Tehachapi Police Department where "a person can be exposed to sensitive information in the form of HIPPA, CLETS, victims of crimes," and other sensitive information.
Officers said that Davies was "intelligent enough" to know that he was recording in a restricted area, according to court documents. Davies claimed he "didn't think about it" and told the officers that the "department wasn't doing its job," the documents said.
The officer in the report stated that, in the recording, Davies had gone to the police department to discuss an incident that had happened earlier that day, in which Davies and his roommates were involved in a physical fight. According to the officer, Davies and his roommate "refused to press charges," the documents said.
The officer added at that while inside the police department, Davies "was belligerent, agitate and appeared intoxicated to some extent," according to the documents.
The officer was able to record the video recording off of the Facebook page.
Davies is also facing other criminal charges, not related to this incident.
- Related Content: Former candidate arrested during Tehachapi City Council meeting
According to court records, back in September 2019, Davies was arrested during a Tehachapi City Council meeting on charges of vandalism with damage of more than $400 but less than $5,000, assault, possession of a "tear gas weapon," throwing a substance at a vehicle and battery on a person.
He was also arrested in October 2019 for misdemeanor DUI with .08 blood alcohol content level.
He was also charged in June 2018 with misdemeanor drunken disorderly conduct and felony vandalism.
While he hasn't been convicted on any of these charges, he has multiple court hearings throughout the month of January.
