hi tw it’s not illegal to tape a conversation without telling them in advance? just wondering…thanks
All I can go on is what my former boss told me – that it’s perfectly legal and even admissible in court – of course he didn’t realize I did the same thing to him (heck, even I can learn…) 
Oddly enough the topic of secret video/audio recordings is the topic in several of my judge and prosecutor classes. It comes up all the time in the context of wife videos husband “doing the wild thing” with “women other than his wife”.
Because of the utter confusion generated by the “new” (new two years ago) criminal procedure code, my students (who are the judges who will be hearing the cases) are completely confused over the admissiblity of such tapes. What it tends to boil down to is, if the tape fits the judges verdict it is admitted, if it does not then it is not admitted.
On a side note, several of my judge and prosecutor students have told me they have seen some verrrrrry interesting things in different adultery case videos; althought to keep this post PG-13 I will not go into what they are. Mini-video cams really have changed married life, especually when your beloved installs one in the bedroom and then “goes on vacation” for a couple of days.
Sam Spade Brian
Private Eye and Video Installer
Thanks for posting about this, “Sam” 
With regards to the other part of the OP’s question: I guess if judges will sometimes admit it into court, then we can assume it is legal (or at least, not illegal)
Oh, no, Brian isn’t MY “Sam”, if that’s what you mean… 