Opinion ID: 888179
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: Did the District Court err in failing to suppress the recording of the telephone conversation between Jones and Brown?

Text: ¶ 9 Jones moved the District Court to suppress the tape recording of the telephone conversation between she and Brown, relying on two cases State v. Goetz, No. 05-676 (Mont. filed Oct. 12, 2005) and State v. Hamper, No. 05-539 (Mont. filed Aug. 4, 2005) which were then pending on appeal in this Court, but not yet decided. She essentially asserted that the warrantless recording violated her rights under Article II, Sections 10 and 11 of the Montana Constitution. The District Court denied her motion to suppress, concluding that the warrantless recording of a conversation with the consent of one party to the conversation is lawful. Jones asserts error. We review a district court's ruling on a motion to suppress to determine whether the court's findings of fact are clearly erroneous and its interpretation and application of the law correct. State v. Copelton, 2006 MT 182, ¶ 8, 333 Mont. 91, ¶ 8, 140 P.3d 1074, ¶ 8. ¶ 10 On appeal, Jones again asserts that the facts and issue in this case are substantially similar to those in Goetz and Hamper, and argues this case should be resolved in conformity with the outcome in those cases. Although those cases were still pending at the time of briefing in this appeal, we recently issued our decision in those cases in State v. Goetz, 2008 MT 296, 345 Mont. 421, 191 P.3d 489. In Goetz, the defendants appealed from the denials of their respective motions to suppress tape recordings of one-on-one, in-person conversations between the defendants and confidential informants which occurred in the defendants' homes and, in one instance, in a vehicle. Goetz, ¶¶ 5-8. ¶ 11 We previously have addressed the specific issue of whether the warrantless consensual monitoring and recording of a telephone conversation constitutes an unreasonable search in violation of the Montana Constitution. We did so in State v. Coleman, 189 Mont. 492, 502-03, 616 P.2d 1090 1096 (1980); State v. Canon, 212 Mont. 157, 162-63, 687 P.2d 705, 708 (1984); and State v. Brown, 232 Mont. 1, 6-7, 755 P.2d 1364, 1368 (1988) (overruled on other grounds in Goetz, ¶ 24). Jones does not cite to, discuss or analyze Coleman, Canon, or Brown. Nor does Jones present any analysis of the factors applicable in determining whether an unreasonableor unlawfulsearch occurred as contemplated by Article II, Sections 10 and 11 of the Montana Constitution, those factors being whether Jones had an actual expectation of privacy which society is willing to recognize as objectively reasonable and the nature of the state's intrusion upon that expectation of privacy. See Goetz, ¶ 27. ¶ 12 The appellant bears the burden of establishing error by the district court. State v. Hicks, 2006 MT 71, ¶ 22, 331 Mont. 471, ¶ 22, 133 P.3d 206, ¶ 22. Furthermore, it is not this Court's obligation to conduct legal research on an appellant's behalf or develop legal analysis supporting an appellant's position. Hicks, ¶ 22. We conclude Jones has failed to establish that the District Court erred in refusing to suppress the recording of a telephone conversation between Jones and a confidential informant.