Opinion ID: 6500514
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: Challenges to Ex Parte Proceedings

Text: Next, Pelullo challenges the ex parte proceedings held in conjunction with the filter teams, saying they violated his Fifth Amendment due process rights, his Sixth Amendment right to counsel, and separation of powers principles. Again, he comes up short. The use of filter teams is an acceptable method of protecting constitutional privileges. Moreover, Pelullo has not identified any privileged materials that were improperly shared with the prosecution, nor has he otherwise attempted to demonstrate prejudice. The use of filter teams in conjunction with ex parte proceedings is widely accepted. See, e.g., In re Search of Elec. Commc’ns, 802 F.3d 516, 530 (3d Cir. 2015) (“[T]he use of a ‘taint team’ to review for privileged documents [is] a common tool employed by the Government.”); In re Grand Jury Subpoenas, 454 F.3d 511, 522 (6th Cir. 2006) (explaining that when “potentially-privileged documents are already in the government's possession, … the use of the taint team to sift the wheat from the chaff constitutes an action respectful of, rather than injurious to, the protection of privilege”); United States v. Avenatti, 559 F. Supp. 3d 274, 282 (S.D.N.Y. 2021) (“[T]he use of a filter team is a common procedure in this District and has been deemed adequate in numerous cases to protect attorney-client communications.” (citation and internal quotation marks omitted)). Contrary to Pelullo’s suggestion, he had no pre-indictment Sixth Amendment rights, nor did he have a Fifth Amendment due process right to notice of the ex parte proceedings. Indeed, his surveillance was consistent with the Wiretap Act, which requires courts to seal all government applications for wiretaps and any resulting orders. 18 U.S.C. § 2518(8)(a)-(b). That sealing provision was established “to 44 protect the confidentiality of the government’s investigation[,]” United States v. Florea, 541 F.2d 568, 575 (6th Cir. 1976), which the sealing did here until the appropriate time. Although the Act entitles the subject of the wiretap to notice and an inventory of the intercepted communications within a reasonable time, such notice may be postponed pursuant to an ex parte showing of good cause. 18 U.S.C. § 2518(8)(d). Good cause is not a high bar, and an ongoing criminal investigation will typically justify delayed notice of the wiretap. E.g., United States v. John, 508 F.2d 1134, 1139 (8th Cir. 1975); United States v. Manfredi, 488 F.2d 588, 602 (2d Cir. 1973). It did so in this case. The undercover investigation here continued until the intercepted communications gave the government probable cause in May 2008 to search the law offices of Manno and McCarthy. By executing those searches pursuant to warrants, the government’s investigation could no longer continue undercover. Pelullo was thus notified about the existence of the wiretap shortly thereafter. Pelullo next challenges the procedures employed by the Manno and McCarthy Filter Teams, arguing they violated separation-of-powers principles. The Manno and McCarthy Filter Teams, as detailed above, instituted procedures to ensure the protection of privileged materials. In challenging those procedures, Pelullo relies predominantly on a Fourth Circuit case, In re Search Warrant, 942 F.3d 159 (4th Cir. 2019), which held comparable conduct unconstitutional. That case, however, arose in the context of a motion for a temporary restraining order brought by a law firm to enjoin the use, without adequate process, of materials that had been seized as part of a criminal investigation into one of its clients. Id. at 45 164. The Fourth Circuit reversed the district court’s denial of the motion, ordering that the challenged filter team procedures be enjoined. Id. at 170. Pelullo’s argument arises in an entirely different procedural posture: on post-conviction appeal. The full applicability of the Fourth Circuit’s precedent is thus open to question. More importantly, however, Pelullo has not identified any way in which the process used to screen for attorney-client privileged material caused him harm. We do not believe, nor has Pelullo suggested, that the alleged error – allowing an executive branch employee to make an initial privilege determination – is structural. See United States v. Colon-Munoz, 192 F.3d 210, 217 n.9 (1st Cir. 1999) (finding alleged separation-of-powers violation not structural because it “involve[d] the structure of the federal government rather than the structure of the criminal trial process as a reliable means of determining guilt or innocence”); see also Neder v. United States, 527 U.S. 1, 8-9 (1999) (structural error is that which would “deprive defendants of ‘basic protections’ without which ‘a criminal trial cannot reliably serve its function as a vehicle for determination of guilt or innocence ... and no criminal punishment may be regarded as fundamentally fair’” (citation omitted)). Thus, we employ harmless-error review, and the answer to whether there was any error here that caused Pelullo harm is simple. There was not. Despite having had a full and fair opportunity to do so, before both the District Court and us, Pelullo has not pointed to any piece of evidence that was privileged but improperly provided to the prosecution. Without reaching the question of whether a constitutional violation occurred (and without commenting on the 46 advisability of the particular screening methods employed by the government), it is clear that, even if there were error, there was no prejudice as a consequence. See United States v. Schneider, 801 F.3d 186, 200 (3d Cir. 2015) (“An error is harmless when it is highly probable that it did not prejudice the outcome.” (citation and internal quotation marks omitted)). Because Pelullo has not shown that injury resulted from the filter teams’ review, any error was harmless, and his Fifth and Sixth Amendment claims fail.