Think about all of the devices you use on a daily basis that have a camera embedded in them. Nearly every laptop and tablet sold today has at least one forward-facing camera for videoconferencing and selfies. Video game consoles use them to provide a level of human-computer interactivity with software.
Now imagine being told you couldn’t use any of them. And not only that you couldn’t use them, but that if you did, you’d be breaking the law.
Such an order has been imposed against Michael Lyon, a Northern California real estate mogul who twice has found himself on the wrong side of the law on charges he secretly videotaped intimate encounters with prostitutes, family and friends at his Sacramento home.
His 2014 arrest on felony voyeurism charges came four years after an arrest and conviction on similar allegations. In the first case, Lyon was sentenced to serve one year in count jail; in the new case against him, the mogul faces 16 felony counts including video voyeurism charges that could land him a lengthy state prison sentence.
The fresh charges were brought against Lyon earlier this year following a raid on his home in connection with a drug possession case. Lyon was released on bail in April, but not before being warned by a judge that his freedom would some with some restrictions.
“No cameras of any kind in possession of Mr. Lyon,” a judge said at a bail hearing according to a report by The Sacramento Bee. “That means no cellphone with a camera on it. No computer with a camera on it. No still camera, motion pictures. Any kind of filming device at all. Anything that is able to transmit stills or streaming action, any kind of filming whatsoever. And no recording equipment.”
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That legally-binding order has proven somewhat hard to maintain for Lyon, who last week was accused of violating terms of his bail by using a cameraphone to tape his girlfriend — also a defendant in the drug case against Lyon — driving a speedboat.
Lyon’s use of the phone was apparently captured on videotape by another, unknown person. That tape found its way to prosecutors in the case, and a hearing was called before the judge to determine if Lyon had violated the terms of his bail.
The judge reviewed the tape in his chambers before the hearing and determined that Lyon had, in fact, appeared briefly in the video. But it was not clear to the judge whether Lyon actually filmed his girlfriend using a cameraphone or any other equipment.
“If I was convinced that was you holding the camera I’d be taking you back there right now,” Sacramento Superior Court Judge Ben Davidian told Lyon, gesturing toward the county jail near the courthouse, according to The Sacramento Bee.
The judge said the video supports the suggestion that Lyon was operating a camera, but that it couldn’t be definitively proven because of Lyon’s brief appearance in the tape. Davidian also said that associates of Lyon who were present at the event claimed the mogul was not using a camera.
“I have a very strong suspicion about that video,” Davidian said. “There’s not enough there for me to put you back…but if there was, that’s where you’d be.”
William Portonova, Lyon’s attorney, told reporters outside the hearing that the hearing was “a big to-do about nothing,” adding that his client had followed the judge’s orders and did not use anything with a camera.
If convicted on these current charges, Lyon could face several years in state prison. A hearing will be held in November to determine if there is enough evidence in the case to proceed to trial.
