Source: http://openjurist.org/536/f2d/179/united-states-v-united-states-department-of-probation-and-parole
Timestamp: 2016-10-24 01:39:59
Document Index: 444440094

Matched Legal Cases: ['§ 2518', '§ 2518', '§ 2255', '§ 2255', '§ 2255', '§ 2255', '§ 2255', '§ 2255', '§ 2516', '§ 2516', '§ 2516']

536 F2d 179 United States v. United States Department of Probation and Parole | OpenJurist
536 F. 2d 179 - United States v. United States Department of Probation and Parole HomeFederal Reporter, Second Series 536 F.2d.
536 F2d 179 United States v. United States Department of Probation and Parole 536 F.2d 179
UNITED STATES of America ex rel. Andrew Joseph MACHI,Petitioner-Appellee,v.UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF PROBATION AND PAROLE,Respondent-Appellant.
Argued April 20, 1976.Decided June 2, 1976.
18 U.S.C. § 2518 prescribes procedures for obtaining an order to intercept wire or oral communications. Section 2518(10)(a), relating to suppression motions, provides that, "Such motion shall be made before the trial, hearing, or proceeding unless there was no opportunity to make such motion or the person was not aware of the grounds of the motion." (Emphasis added).
Recognizing that the grounds for the motion may have been available prior to Machi's trial, the district court invited the parties to brief the issue. The petitioner responded. Thereafter the court entered an order noting that "petitioner's counsel flatly states . . . that" the "decision in Robinson was unknown to the petitioner or his counsel". The court concluded that under the express wording of the proviso in 18 U.S.C. § 2518(10)(a), quoted supra, Machi was not precluded from attacking his conviction through the § 2255 motion. We agree.4
Under § 2255 a sentence may be vacated, set aside or corrected where it "was imposed in violation of the Constitution or laws of the United States." The permissible bases for granting § 2255 relief were recently examined by the Supreme Court in Davis v. United States, 417 U.S. 333, 94 S.Ct. 2298, 41 L.Ed.2d 109 (1974). In Davis the Court noted that while both constitutional and nonconstitutional grounds are sufficient under the language of § 2255, in order for a claim based on a violation of federal law to be sufficient it must rise to the level of "a fundamental defect which inherently results in a complete miscarriage of justice" and presents under the rule of Hill v. United States, 368 U.S. 424, 429, 82 S.Ct. 468, 471, 7 L.Ed.2d 417, 421 (1962), "exceptional circumstances where the need for the remedy afforded by the writ of habeas corpus is apparent." 417 U.S. at 346, 94 S.Ct. at 2305, 41 L.Ed.2d at 119. The Court in Davis found an intervening change in the substantive law under which the petitioner had been convicted to be so fundamental that habeas relief was required to prevent a "complete miscarriage of justice".5
We do not find in the present petition the requisite "exceptional circumstances" and "fundamental defects" necessary to form a basis for § 2255 relief. As discussed infra, United States v. Giordano, supra, the Supreme Court decision interpreting the wiretap laws to require surveillance to be authorized by the Attorney General or his specifically designated assistant, upon which Machi's petition is based, did not rest on constitutional grounds but upon the statutory provisions of the electronic surveillance laws. 416 U.S. at 524, 94 S.Ct. at 1831, 40 L.Ed.2d at 358. Petitioner's reliance on Kaufman v. United States, 394 U.S. 217, 89 S.Ct. 1068, 22 L.Ed.2d 227 (1969), which held that a conviction based on an unconstitutional search and seizure can be challenged under § 2255, is therefore misplaced. This petition does not raise a constitutional issue.
Guidelines for what constitutes proper authorization under § 2516(1) are set forth in the companion cases of United States v. Giordano, 416 U.S. 505, 94 S.Ct. 1820, 40 L.Ed.2d 341 (1974), and United States v. Chavez, 416 U.S. 562, 94 S.Ct. 1849, 40 L.Ed.2d 380 (1974). In Giordano the Court held that evidence obtained through wiretap authorizations where the application was made by the Attorney General's Executive Assistant (Lindenbaum), without the approval of the Attorney General or his designated Assistant Attorney General, must be suppressed. In Chavez the Court held that misidentifying the Assistant Attorney General as the official authorizing a wiretap application when the Attorney General himself had in fact given the approval, did not require suppression of the evidence obtained through the wiretap. The Court in Chavez, 416 U.S. at 574-575, 94 S.Ct. at 1856, 40 L.Ed.2d at 392, distinguishing Giordano said:
We conclude that the procedure utilized in securing the approval for the wiretap in question was sufficient to give "assurance of a responsible executive determination of the need and justifiability of each interception", which the Supreme Court in Giordano, 416 U.S. at 517, 94 S.Ct. at 1827, 40 L.Ed.2d at 354, observed was one of the principal objectives of Congress in enacting § 2516.
It may be noted also that the issue raised in Robinson was not finally determined until January 8, 1974, when the Supreme Court decided United States v. Giordano, 416 U.S. 505, 94 S.Ct. 1820, 40 L.Ed.2d 341. In the meantime the Fifth Circuit, following a rehearing en banc on motion of the Government, on January 16, 1973 remanded Robinson for an evidentiary hearing. 472 F.2d at 973. Both Giordano and Robinson list cases on both sides of the issue, most, but not all, of the cases following the holding in the first Robinson decision
In Francis v. Henderson, decided May 3, 1976, --- U.S. ----, 96 S.Ct. 1708, 48 L.Ed.2d 149, 44 L.W. 4620, the Court, following the rules set forth in Davis, held that a collateral attack upon "a state court conviction because of an allegedly unconstitutional grand jury indictment" requires "not only a showing of 'cause' for the defendant's failure to challenge the composition of the grand jury before trial, but also a showing of actual prejudice."
Quintana reviewed the following circuit court decisions pertaining to § 2516(1): United States v. Robinson, 472 F.2d 973 (5 Cir. 1973); United States v. Brick, 502 F.2d 219 (8 Cir. 1974); United States v. James, 161 U.S.App.D.C. 88, 494 F.2d 1007 (1974); United States v. Firoella, 468 F.2d 688 (2 Cir. 1972); cert. denied, 417 U.S. 917, 94 S.Ct. 2622, 41 L.Ed.2d 222 (1974); United States v. Ceraso, 467 F.2d 647 (3 Cir. 1972); United States v. Cox, 462 F.2d 1293 (8 Cir. 1972), cert. denied, 417 U.S. 918, 94 S.Ct. 2623, 41 L.Ed.2d 223 (1974)