Opinion ID: 475726
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: The Formica Decision

Text: 11 In State v. Formica, the Appellate Court of Connecticut considered a motion to suppress evidence seized as a result of a wiretap conducted pursuant to an order under the state wiretap statute. The wiretapping order, which had not mentioned Formica, authorized interception of communications from February 23, 1983, through March 9, 1983. Monitoring took place from February 24, 1983, through March 4, 1983. On the basis of this surveillance, Formica was arrested on gambling charges and was arraigned in May 1983. On August 18, 1983, Formica was served with the inventory of the wiretap. He moved to suppress on the ground that the inventory was not served on him within the required 90-day period. The state conceded noncompliance with the 90-day requirement but contended that since the information contained in the August 18 inventory had been provided to Formica within the 90-day period in the affidavit that accompanied the warrant for his arrest, the state had substantially complied with the statute. The state court rejected the substantial compliance argument and upheld the suppression of the evidence. 12 The Formica court noted that the notice provision had been included by the state legislature in order to minimize the intrusiveness of wiretaps on the privacy of individuals, and stated as follows: 13 The service of the ninety day post-intercept inventory within the required time period on one who was not a named target of the tap alerts him promptly to the fact that his conversations were intercepted, thus enabling him to obtain from the panel copies of his conversations, the applications and orders immediately upon the filing of a motion requesting such information; General Statutes Sec. 54-41k; and enabling him promptly to seek his civil remedies under General Statutes Sec. 54-41r. 14 3 Conn.App. at 482-83, 489 A.2d at 1063. The court ruled that, while not every violation of the Connecticut wiretapping statute would require suppression, violation of the notice provision did require suppression: 15 We hold that strict compliance with the service of inventory requirement was intended by the legislature to be a substantive part of such a scheme, and that failure of such compliance requires suppression under General Statutes Sec. 54-41m. 16 Id. at 480, 489 A.2d at 1062. 17 The court held that since notice was mandatory, substantial compliance along the lines suggested by the state was insufficient and that suppression was required even if the defendant could show no prejudice resulting from the violation. The court correctly noted that in these respects the Connecticut statute was stricter than the federal wiretapping statute. See 18 U.S.C. Secs. 2510-2520 (1982); id. Sec. 2518(8)(d) (the authorizing judge has discretion to determine whether notice should be sent to a person not named in wiretap authorization); United States v. Donovan, 429 U.S. 413, 438-39 & n. 26, 97 S.Ct. 658, 673 & n. 26, 50 L.Ed.2d 652 (1977) (unnotified defendant entitled to suppression only upon a showing of prejudice); United States v. Fury, 554 F.2d 522, 528-29 (2d Cir.1977) (same), cert. denied, 436 U.S. 931, 98 S.Ct. 2831, 56 L.Ed.2d 776 (1978). See also State v. Grant, 176 Conn. 17, 25, 404 A.2d 873, 878 (1978) (Connecticut scheme is ... in many respects more stringent than the equivalent federal act).