Supreme Court declines to hear appeal of ex-Madison constable
Published 6:05 pm Wednesday, January 23, 2008
The U.S. Supreme Court on Tuesday rejected without comment the appeal of former Madison County Constable Eddie Gilmer, who was challenging his 15-year sentence for secretly videotaping a woman inside her apartment.
Gilmer was sentenced to the maximum 25 years with 10 years suspended in Madison County in 2004.
Prosecutors said Gilmer used a zoom lens to videotape Deborah Clayton of Ridgeland in 2003 while he sat in his car in a parking lot.
Clayton testified she sat, often with her feet propped up, near the door to get better reception on her cell phone, according to court documents.
The Mississippi Supreme Court had upheld Gilmer’s conviction in 2007, rejecting Gilmer’s claims that the state’s “video voyeur” law was unconstitutional.
The Mississippi court said Gilmer recorded his victim at night “from such a distance clearly indicate an attempt to conceal his actions and elude observation or detection” in violation of the law.