Opinion ID: 366610
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 4

Heading: wiretap issues

Text: 18 We turn first to the various contentions of appellants that the wiretaps were unlawful and that the evidence derived therefrom should have been suppressed. We are concerned here with both a Fourth Amendment requirement and the requirements under Title III of the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets Act of 1968, 18 U.S.C. §§ 2510-2520. The statutory requirements may, of course, be more restrictive than the requirements of the exclusionary rule for Fourth Amendment violations. 19 Section 2515 of 18 U.S.C. prohibits the receipt in evidence of the contents of a communication, or evidence derived therefrom, if the disclosure would be in violation of the Act. That section is triggered by § 2518(10)(a), which provides in part: 20 Any aggrieved person . . . may move to suppress the contents of any intercepted wire or oral communication, or evidence derived therefrom, on the ground that 21 (i) the communication was unlawfully intercepted; 22 (ii) the order of authorization or approval under which it was intercepted is insufficient on its face; or 23 (iii) the interception was not made in conformity with the order of authorization or approval 24 Section 2518(1)-(8) sets out the procedures and requirements in order to obtain a valid order to place a wiretap on the telephone and subsequent requirements of the agency following the wiretap. 25 A. Naming of Probable Conversers in Wiretap Application. 26 Andrews argues that the trial court erred in declining to suppress evidence obtained through the wiretaps authorized by the orders issued on August 28 and September 30. He contends that the Fourth Amendment and 18 U.S.C. § 2518(1)(b) (iv) and (3)(a) require that the application for wiretap authorization set forth sufficient facts to allow the issuing judge to conclude that there is probable cause to believe that each person named in the application as a probable converser is committing an offense. Andrews argues that he was named as a probable converser in the application, but that the DEA did not then have probable cause to believe that he was committing an offense. 27 There is nothing in the Fourth Amendment that imposes a requirement of the type urged by Andrews. In United States v. Donovan, 429 U.S. 413, 97 S.Ct. 658, 50 L.Ed.2d 652 (1977), the Court stated: 28 The Fourth Amendment requires specification of the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized. In the wiretap context, those requirements are satisfied by identification of the telephone line to be tapped and the particular conversations to be seized. 29 Id. at 427, n.15, 97 S.Ct. at 668, n.15. There is no constitutional requirement that the persons whose conversations may be intercepted be named in the application. Id. Consequently, we hold that the Fourth Amendment does not require that the reasons for naming all probable conversers be shown in the application. 30 The question concerning the requirements of the statute is not as easily resolved. The subject of our inquiry is the statutory section governing the procedure for obtaining wiretap authorization, 18 U.S.C. § 2518. 31 An application for an order authorizing a wiretap must include the  identity of the person, if known, committing the offense and whose communications are to be intercepted. 18 U.S.C. § 2518(1)(b)(iv). The judge to whom the application is submitted may enter an order authorizing a wiretap if the application shows that there is probable cause for belief that an individual is committing, has committed, or is about to commit an offense enumerated in § 2516. 18 U.S.C. § 2518(3)(a). In United States v. Kahn,415 U.S. 143, 150-155, 94 S.Ct. 977, 39 L.Ed.2d 225 (1974), the Supreme Court held that the investigative agency does not have to name in its application a probable converser who it does not have probable cause to believe is engaged in the criminal activity under investigation. The Court later held in Donovan that § 2518(1)(b)(iv) does require the investigative agency to name in its application Every probable converser who it has probable cause to believe is engaged in the criminal activity under investigation. 429 U.S. at 423-28, 97 S.Ct. 658. In effect, Andrews now urges us to hold that § 2518(1)(b)(iv) and (3)(a) require that Only those for whom such probable cause is shown may be named in the application. We disagree. 32 At the outset we note that there is nothing in the wording of the statute itself that compels us to adopt Andrews's position. Section 2518(1)(b)(iv), as construed in Donovan, describes those persons who Must be named in the application; it does not expressly prohibit the investigative agency from naming other individuals in the application. Section 2518(3)(a) permits a judge to issue an authorization order upon a showing that probable cause exists with respect to An individual ; it does not expressly require a similar showing with respect to Each person named in the application. 33 A restriction that the investigative agency can name in its application only those for whom probable cause exists is not consistent with the policy of Title III. The provisions of Title III were designed to accommodate two competing policy objectives: (1) the authorization of electronic surveillance as a weapon against organized crime; and (2) the protection of individual privacy. Kahn, 415 U.S. at 151, 94 S.Ct. 977. Section 2518(8)(d) of the Act requires that each person named in the application be given notice (which is denominated as an inventory) within a reasonable time after the entry of the authorization order or the denial of the application, which shall contain the fact of the entry of the order, the date of the entry and the fact that during the period, wire and oral communications were or were not intercepted. It is mandatory to send the notice to those persons named in the application, but it is discretionary as to whether notice is to be sent to persons not named in the application. Therefore, the policy of protecting persons from unreasonable invasions of privacy is furthered by naming in the application all those persons likely to have their conversations intercepted, whether or not probable cause exists as to them, because those persons will benefit from the mandatory statutory notice requirements. In cases where probable cause is doubtful as to some conversers, an investigative agency should be encouraged to name more, rather than fewer, persons in the application. 34 In addition, the competing policy objective of aiding law enforcement would be frustrated if an investigative agency were required to make a showing of probable cause for every person named in the application. Under Donovan, the agency is required to name all persons for whom a showing of probable cause can be made. If the agency order can later be challenged on the ground that probable cause did not exist for one or more of the expected conversers, an impossible burden of exactness is imposed upon the agency in making a decision on which reasonable minds may differ. The policy behind the statute is best served by allowing latitude in naming an expected converser, even though probable cause as to that person ultimately may not be found. 35 In rejecting the argument that a defendant must be arrested when probable cause is first established, so that the right to counsel during questioning would be triggered, the Supreme Court considered the dilemma posed by that argument: 36 The police are not required to guess at their peril the precise moment at which they have probable cause to arrest a suspect, risking a violation of the Fourth Amendment if they act too soon, and a violation of the Sixth Amendment if they wait too long. 37 Hoffa v. United States, 385 U.S. 293, 310, 87 S.Ct. 408, 417, 17 L.Ed.2d 374 (1966). We cannot believe that Congress intended to create a similar dilemma for law enforcement agencies attempting to follow the guidelines of § 2518. 38 B. Failure to Name Persons in Application and to Provide Notice. 39 Martin and Hall contend that the wiretap order issued on September 30 was improper because neither was named in the wiretap application, even though each was a probable converser who the investigative agency had probable cause to believe was committing the offense under investigation. Martin also complains that he was not provided with the inventory required by § 2518(8)(d). Both argue that evidence obtained from these wiretaps should have been suppressed pursuant to 18 U.S.C. § 2518(10)(a)(i). 40 As discussed in the previous section, the DEA was required by 18 U.S.C. § 2518(1)(b)(iv) to name in its wiretap application each probable converser who it had probable cause to believe was committing an offense. United States v. Donovan, 429 U.S. at 423-28, 97 S.Ct. 658. Additionally, those persons named in the wiretap applications are entitled to the inventory, designed to inform the persons of the filing of the application, whether an order was entered and, if so, the dates of the wiretap and whether oral communications were intercepted. 18 U.S.C. § 2518(8)(d). However, in Donovan, the Supreme Court held that §§ 2518(1)(b)(iv) and (8)(d) do not play substantive roles in the statutory framework to substantially implement the congressional intention to limit the use of intercept procedures; and therefore that failure to comply fully with those provisions does not invalidate an order authorizing a wiretap. 429 U.S. at 432-39, 97 S.Ct. 658. 41 There is a suggestion in Donovan that suppression would be justified if government agents Intentionally withheld the names of suspects from its application. 429 U.S. at 436, n. 23, 97 S.Ct. 658. There is no indication of such conduct in this case. 42 Therefore, even assuming that those sections were violated, appellants were not entitled to the suppression of evidence. 43 C. Misstatement in Affidavit. 44 Andrews contends that a misstatement in the affidavit supporting the application for the September 30 order to tap Johnson's telephone erroneously attributed a drug-related phone call to him, and therefore requires suppression of the evidence obtained from the wiretap. 45 We first consider whether exclusion was required because of a Fourth Amendment violation. In United States v. Hole, 564 F.2d 298 (9th Cir. 1977), we held that even a material misstatement in an affidavit supporting a search warrant will not invalidate the warrant under the Fourth Amendment, if the misstatement was made in good faith and neither intentionally nor recklessly. Id. at 301-302. In the present case, the district court determined that the misstatement was innocent. Our review of the record fully supports this finding. 46 Moreover, we note that the misstatement in this case was not material. The phone call should have been attributed to Johnson. There was, however, probable cause to believe that Johnson, who was also named in the application, was committing an offense enumerated in the statute; therefore, there was probable cause for the issuing judge to authorize the wiretaps on Johnson's phones. See 18 U.S.C. § 2518(3)(a). There was no Fourth Amendment violation. 47 We next consider whether Andrews was entitled to suppression under the statute, 18 U.S.C. § 2518(10)(a)(i) on the ground it was unlawfully intercepted. Whether suppression is required under the statute is determined from the provisions of Title III rather than from the exclusionary rule developed to deter violations of the Fourth Amendment. United States v. Giordano, 416 U.S. 505, 524, 94 S.Ct. 1820, 40 L.Ed.2d 341 (1974). We have earlier held that the naming of an expected converser against whom there may not have been probable cause does not vitiate the order. There is nothing in the express provisions of the statute which requires that an innocent and immaterial misstatement in the application for wiretap authorization invalidates the wiretap order. See United States v. Turner, 528 F.2d 143, 156-58 (9th Cir.), Cert. denied sub nom. Grimes et al. v. United States, 423 U.S. 966, 96 S.Ct. 426, 46 L.Ed.2d 371 (1975) (reasonable and good faith effort to comply with the minimization requirements). The misstatement in the application for the wiretap authorization, which was both innocent and immaterial, does not entitle Andrews to suppression under either Fourth Amendment or statutory standards. 48 D. Necessity. 49 All parties to this appeal join in Johnson's argument that the DEA failed to make an adequate showing of the necessity for wiretaps as required by 18 U.S.C. § 2518(1)(c) and (3)(c). We disagree. The judge who authorizes a wiretap has considerable discretion to determine whether an adequate showing of necessity has been made. United States v. Smith,519 F.2d 516, 518 (9th Cir. 1975). An investigative agency is not required to exhaust all possible investigative techniques before resorting to a wiretap. Id. In this case, the DEA made a showing that it had unsuccessfully attempted to investigate the parties to the conspiracy using several methods short of electronic surveillance. We conclude that the trial court correctly found that an adequate showing of necessity was made. 50 E. Duration. 51 The appellants also contend that the duration of the wiretaps was not properly minimized, as required by 18 U.S.C. § 2518(5). The length of time during which a wiretap is used is a crucial factor in determining whether there has been reasonable minimization of communications intercepted. United States v. Chavez, 533 F.2d 491, 493 (9th Cir.), Cert. denied, 426 U.S. 911, 96 S.Ct. 2237, 48 L.Ed.2d 837 (1976). In this case, the longest wiretap on any one set of telephones was that placed on Johnson's phones. The initial wiretap and the extension of the wiretap together extended over a period of 37 days. In light of the significance of Johnson's involvement in the conspiracy and the state of the investigation at the time the extension was granted, we think this period was reasonable. The wiretaps on the other phones were used only for brief periods of time and were also reasonable.