We all know about the OJ case and the recording of the incident at TMZ.Com. In a brief interview today in the NY Times Mr. Riccio(the guy who made the recording)said TMC paid him for the recording, but he declined to divulge the price.

From the NY Times: Whether the Riccio audio will be of use to prosecutors is an open question. Mr. Riccio withheld it from the police for three days before he sold it to TMZ.Com, a decision that may taint it, Lieutenant Nichols said.

�He did not turn that over to us immediately, so that evidentiary value may have been damaged,� Lieutenant Nichols said. �What could�ve been the proverbial nail in the coffin is now floating around on TMZ.com instead. I don�t think we can just download that and bring it into court, but that�s for the D.A. to decide.�

What charges, if any, could be filed if this had happened in Texas? Does a witness have any kind of legal duty to turn evidence over to the police (mind you, this is NOT the same as the destruction of evidence or tampering with the evidence, just the withholding of evidence).

Another question is, if a guy withholds the evidence to later sell it to a TMZ like site, but then later makes it available to law enforcement, is that a crime?

Reminds me somewhat of journalists and pseudo-journalists running around doing "undercover" and "expose" work in order to sell it to networks. We have no problem using their video.

As long as someone can authenticate the tape, it should work.

Could lead to some interesting claims of entrapment, depending on who the taper is. Moreover, it sounds like it might be a difficult fit in the Texas wiretapping law. You can tape your own conversations, but is this taping conversations of others? Do they have an expectation of privacy when gathering their little group of memorabilia repossessors?