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THE SUPREME COURT OF NEW HAMPSHIRE
___________________________
Hillsborough-northern judicial district
No. 94-438
CAROL FISCHER (FORMERLY HOOPER)
v.
DAVID HOOPER
June 16, 1999
Douglas & Douglas, of Concord (C. Kevin Leonard and Susanna G. Robinson on the brief, and Mr. Leonard orally), for the plaintiff.
Dorothy F. Silver, of Manchester, by brief and orally, for the defendant.
HORTON, J. This appeal arises in the context of a jury verdict finding the defendant, David Hooper, liable for both a violation of the New Hampshire wiretapping and eavesdropping statute, RSA ch. 570-A (1986 & Supp. 1991) (amended 1995, 1996, 1998), and the common law tort of invasion of privacy. The defendant asserts that the Superior Court (Groff, J.) made the following errors: (1) denying the defendant's request for a jury instruction and motion for a directed verdict based on the plaintiff's lack of reasonable expectation of privacy; (2) denying the defendant's motion for a directed verdict based on insufficient evidence for the jury to find emotional distress; (3) instructing the jury that the willful conduct required for a violation of RSA chapter 570-A is synonymous with the mens rea of "knowingly" in RSA 626:2, II(b) (1996) rather than the definition of willfulness formerly required under the Federal Wiretapping Statute, 18 U.S.C.