Opinion ID: 315507
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: the wiretap questions

Text: 19 We omit reference to the question of constitutionality of the federal wiretap statute, Title III of the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets Act of 1968, since United States v. Tortorello, 480 F. 2d 764 (2d Cir.), cert. denied, 414 U.S. 866, 94 S.Ct. 63, 38 L.Ed.2d 86 (1973), and United States v. Bynum, supra, 485 F.2d at 499-500, have dealt with that issue adversely to appellants, noting that the very issue is before the Supreme Court in United States v. Giordano, 469 F.2d 522 (4th Cir. 1972), cert. granted, 411 U.S. 905, 93 S.Ct. 1530, 36 L.Ed.2d 194 (1973). 20 The principal attacks made on the wiretapping here are (1) an omission in both the original and renewal warrant orders to require minimization under state law, CPL Sec. 700.30, and (2) an alleged failure to minimize the interception of innocent conversation on the two telephones tapped, contrary to state law, CPL Sec. 700.30, and federal law, 18 U.S.C. Sec. 2518(5). 6 21 In dealing with the question of the validity of the warrants themselves, clearly a question of state law, 7 it will be recalled that the Crodelle affidavit submitted to the state court judge in support of the petition seeking the wiretap order contained an agreement to limit the seizure of conversations to those specifically pertaining to the aforementioned Penal Law violations. 22 Neither the original nor renewal warrant orders, however, contained any directive to this effect. CPL Sec. 700.30 specifically says that An eavesdropping warrant must contain: . . . 7. A provision that the authorization to intercept . . . shall be conducted in such a way as to minimize the interception of communications not otherwise subject to eavesdropping under this article. . . . New York state judges have construed this requirement in different ways, Justice McGrover in People v. Solomon, 74 Misc.2d 926, 346 N.Y.S.2d 938, 941 (Sup.Ct.1973), holding that omission of that specific directive was nothing more than a 'de minimis' oversight, which would not vitiate an eavesdropping order, while Judge Werken in People v. Kennedy, 75 Misc.2d 10, 347 N.Y.S.2d 327 (Greene Cty.Ct. 1973), held a wiretap order fatally defective for failure to comply with the 700.30 requirement. Compare People v. Sher, 68 Misc.2d 917, 329 N.Y.S.2d 2 (Greene Cty.Ct. 1972), with People v. Hueston, 42 A.D.2d 860, 347 N.Y.S.2d 78 (1973) (3-2 decision) (re notice), and People v. Palozzi, 74 Misc.2d 774, 346 N.Y.S.2d 595 (Monroe Cty.Ct. 1973). No New York case, however, involves reliance in the order upon supporting affidavits which contain an agreement to minimize. In this case we feel free to analogize from United States v. Tortorello, 480 F.2d at 781, which, while it apparently did not consider the matter as controlled by state law, held that a New York state judge's authorization order was sufficient to establish probable cause on the basis of facts alleged in the supporting affidavits. We feel it proper to read both the orders themselves and the minimization language of the supporting affidavits in a commonsense and realistic fashion. See United States v. Ventresca, 380 U.S. 102, 108, 85 S.Ct. 741, 13 L.Ed.2d 684 (1965) (probable cause); United States v. Desist, 384 F.2d 889 (2d Cir. 1967), aff'd, 394 U.S. 244, 89 S.Ct. 1030, 22 L.Ed.2d 248 (1969). We read CPL 700.30(7) also as a summation of the more specific requirements of 700.30 subd. 1-700.30 subd. 6, all of which lead to minimization. So reading the state statute and the orders and affidavits, we do not find the orders vitiated by virtue of omission of the talismanic minimization language. 23 We turn now to the more difficult question whether, in this case, the eavesdropping was conducted so as to minimize the interception of communications not otherwise subject to eavesdropping under CPL Sec. 700.30 subd. 7. This question is, like that of the facial validity of the warrant, one to be determined by reference to state law. Assessment of the minimization question necessarily ultimately depends upon the facts and circumstances of each case. 24 As previously stated, see text following note 4 supra, all calls incoming or outgoing over the two telephones involved were monitored and recorded irrespective of the identity of the parties engaged in the conversations. After the transcription of the conversations was accomplished in either summary or verbatim fashion, the tapes themselves were kept under lock and key. The court has examined both the monitor logs and the transcription sheets with some care in order to appreciate more fully the claims made by both the defendants and the Government with respect to minimization. 25 Our examination of state court decisions construing and applying CPL Sec. 700.30 subd. 7 leads us to conclude that none of them is either dispositive or particularly indicative of how the New York courts would rule on the facts before us. The New York Court of Appeals has yet to consider this question. In People v. Holder, 69 Misc.2d 863, 331 N.Y.S.2d 557 at 569-571, the two defendants were under indictment for conspiracy to cause the felonious death of a third party. In that quite simple conspiracy, the fact that fewer than 10 per cent of the conversations recorded were relevant to the conspiracy appears to have been determinative of the court's decision to suppress. In People v. Castania, 73 Misc.2d 166, 340 N.Y.S.2d 829, 833-836 (Monroe Cty.Ct. 1973), the court was faced with a gambling conspiracy more complex than the conspiracy in Holder but which cannot be equated with the conspiracy before this court. In Castania the court took account of the fact that only slightly over one-half of the conversations had been monitored, which, coupled with the court's assumption that non-pertinent calls could have been recognized as such and not intercepted, dictated a finding that minimization had not been achieved. It is precisely that assumption made by the Castania court which cannot be made in this case. In People v. Kennedy, defendants were under indictment for possession of dangerous drugs and associated paraphernalia. The court, in dicta, indicated its disapproval of a practice under which only 10 per cent of the calls recorded were actually monitored, thereby virtually negating the possibility of minimizing the interception of calls. 26 These state cases, since they do not deal with complex, far-flung narcotics conspiracies, are not dispositive of the case before us. We feel free, in these circumstances, to consider the question of minimization under the language of 18 U.S.C. Sec. 2518(5) and decisions thereunder, noting that the language of CPL Sec. 700.30 subd. 7 virtually tracks that of the federal statute. We also note that in considering the question of minimization, the Holder court, 331 N.Y.S.2d at 571, and the Castania court, 340 N.Y.S.2d at 836, both appear to incorporate by reference lower federal court decisions addressed to this question. 27 We are aided by the trial court's finding that the law enforcement agents here made a good faith effort to minimize to the extent practical and electronically possible, within the peculiar circumstances of a narcotics conspiracy-which is one of the most difficult things to surveil and obtain evidence on that I can think of in modern law enforcement . . . . We held in Bynum, 485 F.2d at 500, that the mere fact that every conversation is monitored does not necessarily render the surveillance violative of the minimization requirement of the statute. What Judge Tyler was talking about here was doubtless that in a narcotics conspiracy the use of code words and cover-up jargon and methods of dealing make investigation most difficult. Here, as in Bynum, it is . . . obvious that no electronic surveillance can be so conducted that innocent conversation can be totally eliminated. Id. at 500. Here there was testimony that most of the 1,595 calls intercepted were deemed to be germane to the narcotics investigation. In all candor, our examination of the logs and transcription sheets does not lend credit to that testimony. 8 At the same time, here as in Bynum, the conspiracy unveiled was a huge business involving millions of dollars' worth of narcotics, numerous distributors and highly complex, surreptitious telephone calls, with numerous callers, male and female, both in and out of the surveilled homes, occupied by persons at least one of whom was openly claiming to be connected with organized crime in the operation of the business. We too fail to see how any detailed screening instructions which could effectively minimize licit telephone interceptions could be devised under these circumstances. Here no claim is made that the Government could have formulated a pattern of innocent calls by which it could have avoided intercepting those. Here no claim is made that any privileged calls were intercepted. 9 28 Calls dealing with the narcotics conspiracy were made at all hours of the day or night, so that no minimization by non-use in certain time periods could be attempted. In the sampling of about 100 calls listened to by Agent White, he heard very few-indeed he did not remember hearing any-that did not relate to drugs or the proceeds obtained from drugs. Moreover, it is perfectly clear from the record that some seemingly innocuous calls were in fact related to the drug conspiracy; evidentiary significance could be ascertained only by comparison with other conversations involving the same persons or in the light of facts ascertained either independent of or as a result of the conversation. Finally, it was obvious that the purpose of the wiretaps was not simply to obtain evidence against the telephone subscribers but rather to ascertain the scope and extent of the drug conspiracy under investigation. Given all these facts, we believe that the Government made a prima facie showing of compliance with the minimization provision, and we have the trial court's finding of good faith, in monitoring all the calls from the two key numbers. While it may be that, as Judge Miller said in United States v. Focarile, 340 F.Supp. 1033, 1047 (D. Md.1972), aff'd sub nom., United States v. Giordano, supra, [s]ection 2518(5) . . . requires the intercept procedure to be conducted so as to reduce to the smallest possible number the interception of 'innocent' calls, in this instance the burden clearly shifted to the defendants to make some showing as to how this could be done. They make no suggestion even now. Here, as in Bynum, there was no way to frame screening instructions so as to accomplish any non-recording of innocent calls. We do not believe that the statute goes further than to require that the methods used to effect minimization be in good faith and reasonable. Cf. Berger v. New York, 388 U.S. 41, 53, 87 S.Ct. 1873, 18 L.Ed. 2d 1040 (1967), and Katz v. United States, 389 U.S. 347, 355, 88 S.Ct. 507, 19 L.Ed.2d 576 (1967). It thus becomes unnecessary for us to determine whether a failure adequately to minimize requires suppression of all the conversations overheard, United States v. Focarile, 340 F.Supp. at 1047; United States v. Scott, 331 F.Supp. 233 (D.D.C.1971), or only nonincriminating conversations. United States v. Cox, 462 F.2d 1293, 1301-1302 (8th Cir. 1972); United States v. King, 335 F.Supp. 523, 543-544 (S.D.Cal.1971). 29 While appellants do not challenge the wiretaps on the basis of lack of probable cause, certain appellants argue that the application for the wiretap orders must be made by the district attorney in person appearing before the judge. While under CPL Sec. 700.05 subd. 5 the applicant has to be a district attorney or the attorney general, and under 18 U.S.C. Sec. 2516(2) the applicant must be the principal prosecuting attorney of any state or political subdivision thereof, this court held in United States v. Tortorello, supra, that the requirement of former Sec. 794 of the CPL (now Sec. 690.35, omitting the very language discussed in Tortorello) that [t]he person seeking the warrant shall appear personally before the judge . . . related only to the law enforcement officers with personal knowledge who signed the supporting affidavits. Not only does Tortorello seem to us to make good sense, but the appellants fail to point to any language in the New York statutes in effect at the time of the issuance of the warrants here that would require any such personal appearance even of the law enforcement officers. 30 The argument that only the district attorney's staff and the state police were authorized to monitor the wiretaps, but in fact federal narcotics agents did so, thus subjecting the wiretaps to attack under 18 U.S.C. Sec. 2518(10)(a)(iii), is without substance. This was at all times a joint investigation, as found by Judge Tyler, and the Rockland County District Attorney specifically relied on BNDD Agent White's affidavit in his application for the original authorizing warrant. It is beyond dispute that, whether decided as a matter of federal or state law, both statutory schemes specifically allow for the disclosure of evidence gained from an authorized wiretap by those authorized to appropriate law enforcement officials not mentioned in the wiretap order. The federal provision, 18 U.S.C. Sec. 2517, and the New York state provision, CPL 700.65, both contemplate the type of cooperation among law enforcement officials which occurred in this case. See United States v. Forlano, 358 F. Supp. 56, 59 (S.D.N.Y.1973). If such information may be exchanged after the termination of the surveillance, we perceive no reason why that information may not be disclosed to cooperating agencies contemporaneously with its interception. 31 Finally, appellants argue that the postponement of notice of the surveillance to those persons named in the warrants until on or about June 3, 1972, some six months after the termination of the surveillance, was violative of 18 U.S.C. Sec. 2518(8)(d) and CPL Sec. 700.50 subd. 3, 700.50 subd. 4. No state cases having been brought to our attention on this point, we think that the proper perspective for viewing this question is correctly stated by the Third Circuit: 32 If, in a given case, there is undue delay [in giving notice], that contention may be pressed in an appropriate averment alleging non-compliance with the statute. The vice of unreasonable delay is a factor to be measured within the contours of the statute, and should not be used to shape those contours into an unconstitutional form. Simply stated, the Congressional mandate places a premium on reasonable notice of the inventory. . . . [C]ourts should exercise great care in granting extensions beyond the ninety-day period for the filing of inventories. 33 United States v. Cafero, 473 F.2d 489, 500, petition for cert. filed, 42 U.S.L.W. 3018 (U.S. Mar. 26, 1973) (No. 72-1304). Given the complexity of the investigation that continued up until the moment that notice was given in this case, we are extremely reluctant to disturb Judge Tyler's determination below that the postponement authorized by Justice Sweeney was reasonable under all the circumstances. It may be that this holding stretches the interpretation of the statutory provisions to constitutional limits, but if so, we note that none of the appellants have made or attempted to make any showing of prejudice to them as a result of the delay here.