Frank Green reports:
A federal judge in Richmond has ruled that the government may use emails between former Del. Phillip A. Hamilton and his wife in his upcoming bribery and extortion trial.
[…]
Hamilton’s lawyers said the emails are not admissible because of his Fourth Amendment right to privacy and the privilege of protecting confidential marital communications.
But, wrote U.S. District Judge Henry E. Hudson in an eight-page ruling Monday, “Neither affords him the protection he seeks.”
The emails were stored on Hamilton’s work computer with the Newport News school system. At the time they were written, the school system had no policy on privacy expectations.
Read more in the Richmond Times-Dispatch. Related coverage from Associated Press can be found on PilotOnline.com