Opinion ID: 1458127
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: Whether the Calls Were Properly Labeled as Pertinent and Minimized

Text: The record also refutes Defendants' contention that the government arbitrarily labeled calls as pertinent or failed to make sufficient efforts to minimize non-pertinent calls. Special Agent Gilliam testified that monitors were instructed to label a call as pertinent if it concerned drug-related activity of any kind and that he, when he later reviewed the calls, would label a call pertinent if he thought the call was in any way related to drug activity or would assist the DEA in the ongoing investigation of the Rivera organization. Thus, the standard for whether a call should be labeled pertinent was clear and not arbitrary. While Defendants point to two calls between Rigoberto and Edith Iniguez  one labeled pertinent and the other not  as evidence that intercepted calls were nonetheless labeled arbitrarily in practice, Special Agent Gilliam explained that, in his opinion, both calls were probably pertinent, but that one of them may have contained insufficient detail about drug trafficking activity for the monitor to label it as such. Nor does the fact that some DEA agents labeled more calls pertinent than did other agents demonstrate that the labeling was arbitrary. Despite the clear standard for determining whether a call should be labeled pertinent, such a determination is inevitably a judgment call. Special Agent Gilliam testified that while some agents might have labeled calls slightly differently than others, he did not recall any disagreement between agents about whether or not a call should be labeled pertinent. Thus, we conclude that the labeling of calls as pertinent was not arbitrary. Moreover, the fact that only 203 of 4,561 intercepted calls were minimized does not render the DEA's minimization efforts inadequate. While the record does not indicate how many of the intercepted calls the DEA labeled pertinent, Defendants do not assert that the DEA intercepted, but failed to minimize, any significant number of non-pertinent calls. [5] Thus, Defendants have not provided a basis for concluding that the DEA's minimization efforts were unreasonable. Cf. United States v. Bennett, 219 F.3d 1117, 1123-24 (9th Cir.2000) (holding that interception was properly minimized where appellants contended that government failed to minimize only 267 of 7,322 intercepted calls); Torres, 908 F.2d at 1423 (holding that minimization efforts were reasonable where, of 1052 intercepted completed conversations, government failed to minimize only a handful of calls). Moreover, even assuming the DEA failed to minimize a significant number of non-pertinent calls, at least three facts in this case militate against finding the DEA's minimization efforts unreasonable. First, the Supreme Court has observed that [i]n a case such as this, involving a wide-ranging conspiracy with a large number of participants, even a seasoned listener would have been hard pressed to determine with any precision the relevancy of many of the calls before they were completed. Scott, 436 U.S. at 142, 98 S.Ct. 1717. Thus, the DEA's minimization efforts are not rendered unreasonable by the fact that monitors may have declined to minimize calls because they mistakenly believed them to be related to activities of the Rivera organization. See id. Second, we have held that [l]aw enforcement is entitled to latitude to scrutinize messages by conspirators, because such messages may contain double-meanings and implied purposes, or even be conveyed in secret code. McGuire, 307 F.3d at 1201. Here, the district court found that the members of the Rivera organization utilized code words in their conversations. Therefore, the DEA's minimization efforts are also not rendered unreasonable by the fact that monitors may have declined to minimize calls because they mistakenly believed them to contain code words referring to drug trafficking activities. Third, the district court found that the monitors were able to minimize a higher percentage of calls as the authorization period progressed because the agents and monitors kept notes on a dry erase board listing code words that were used, nicknames for individuals, relationships between individuals, and what individuals were associated with what telephone number. Dist. Ct. Order (3/9/06) at 9. We agree with the district court that this fact weighs in favor of finding that the DEA's minimization efforts were reasonable. Accordingly, we conclude that the DEA's labeling of calls as pertinent and its efforts to minimize non-pertinent calls were adequate for purposes of 18 U.S.C. § 2518(5).