Opinion ID: 430880
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Validity of Authorization for Wiretaps

Text: 2 Evidence leading to the conviction of the sixteen appellants now before us arose from a joint investigation conducted by federal agents of the Drug Enforcement Administration, members of the Boston Police Drug Control Unit and officers assigned to the Organized Crime Division of the Suffolk County District Attorney's Office in Massachusetts. Crucial evidence, indicating defendants' participation in an illegal heroin distribution network, was collected by electronic surveillance of five telephone numbers in Norfolk and Suffolk counties. Recordings of the intercepted conversations, along with the results of visual surveillance, were presented to a federal grand jury, which returned an indictment charging nineteen defendants with a conspiracy to knowingly and intentionally possess with intent to distribute and to distribute quantities of heroin, a Schedule I controlled substance, in violation of Title 21, United States Code, Section 841(a)(1); all in violation of Title 21, United States Code, Section 846. 3 Before trial defendants filed consolidated motions to suppress the evidence obtained via wiretaps and to dismiss the indictments; these motions were denied. After fifteen of the defendants waived their right to a jury trial, their cases were submitted to the district court solely on the basis of stipulations of facts. On July 7, 1982, the district court denied each of the defendants' motions for judgment of acquittal, and found each guilty of the conspiracy charged in the indictment. Two defendants, Franklin Shearer and Gail Barber, chose to proceed by jury trial and were found guilty. 4 Of these seventeen, fifteen have appealed from the July 7, 1982 judgments of conviction (the Claudius Smith cases). The two remaining defendants of the nineteen indicted had become fugitives. One of these, appellant Norman Amado, was subsequently taken into federal custody. On June 30, 1983, he filed a motion to suppress, adopting the motion that had been submitted in the stipulated facts trial. On July 15, 1983 the government filed additional material, not earlier submitted, in the form of extensive affidavits and exhibits of District Attorney Flanagan and Assistant District Attorney Crossen detailing the procedures followed by them in obtaining the five wiretap warrants at issue. The panel's decision in the Claudius Smith cases having been issued on June 30, 1983, the district court, on July 27, 1983, allowed Norman Amado's motion to suppress and to dismiss on the basis of the panel's opinion that the wiretaps should have been suppressed. The government appealed. Both this appeal and those in the Claudius Smith cases are now before us. 5 The first issue concerns the propriety of admitting into evidence some 400 pages of transcribed conversations gained from several thousand telephone calls intercepted between November 6, 1981 and February 4, 1982 pursuant to basic applications for judicial authorization to intercept five telephones and amendments and renewals of such applications. The essential procedure involved, first, a letter of designation to Assistant District Attorney Gary Crossen, signed by the District Attorney, Newman Flanagan, empowering the former to make application pursuant to Massachusetts General Laws, Chapter 272, Section 99, for a warrant and any renewals thereof, to intercept wire communications to and from a designated telephone number. The second step was an application, signed by Crossen, containing specific supporting information. The application was then presented to Massachusetts Superior Court Justice McGuire, who issued the necessary warrants. 6 Subsequent to the consideration of the Claudius Smith appeals by our court's panel, the government, as we have noted, filed in the Norman Amado case voluminous material further detailing the procedure followed in connection with the wiretaps. Affidavits from District Attorney Flanagan and Assistant District Attorney Crossen averred that substantial discussion with and consideration by the district attorney of the need for a wiretap preceded each letter of designation, that the district attorney was kept advised continually of progress and problems, that he approved all requests for amendments and renewals of authority. The Amado case record further reveals, in addition to the letters of designation and five applications, numerous applications for renewals and for amendments. These latter kinds of applications were signed, as in the case of the basic applications, only by Assistant District Attorney Crossen. The five applications for renewals recited that each had been authorized by the district attorney. No such recitation appeared in the fourteen applications for amendments. We have collected data concerning the date and authorized coverage of applications, renewals, and amendments in a tabulation in the Appendix. 1 7
8 We need not dwell long on basic presuppositions--that the objectives of federal legislation controlling electronic surveillance are to protect privacy, to establish uniform standards not only on a federal level but in a state or county governing the authorization of interceptions, and to ensure adherence to these standards through centralizing responsibility in top level state and county prosecutors who can be held accountable for departures from preestablished policy; and that, so long as federal standards are not jeopardized or eroded, state regulation is not proscribed but rather is specifically contemplated. 18 U.S.C. Sec. 2516(2). 9 The specific dispute in these appeals deals with ways of achieving the required centralized accountability. It arises from a perceived disparity of verbs employed in the federal statute and the implications of such disparity on the verb used in the Massachusetts statute. The pertinent federal provisions deal with both federal and state officials. As to the former, 18 U.S.C. Sec. 2516(1) states: 10 The Attorney General, or any Assistant Attorney General specially designated by the Attorney General, may authorize an application to a Federal judge of competent jurisdiction for ... an order authorizing or approving the interception of wire or oral communications .... 11 As to state officials, 18 U.S.C. Sec. 2516(2) states: 12 The principal prosecuting attorney of any State, or the principal prosecuting attorney of any political subdivision thereof, ... may apply to [a state court] judge for ... an order authorizing, or approving the interception of wire or oral communications .... 13 Appellants urge that we note the verbal difference between these two provisions: allowing the United States Attorney General or a specially designated Assistant Attorney General to authorize applications to a judge, while allowing principal state prosecuting attorneys (a state's attorney general or district attorney) merely to apply for an intercept order. The thought advanced is that, given the immensity of the jurisdiction of the United States Attorney General, he or his specially designated assistant must be allowed leeway by way of having other officials do the actual work of making application, while state attorneys general and the top prosecutors in each county need not have such assistance and must themselves be the applicants for intercept orders. Given this difference between authorize and apply, the Massachusetts statute, ch. 272, Sec. 99 F(1), must be seen as illegally expanding the federal statute, for it provides: 14 The attorney general, any assistant attorney general specially designated by the attorney general, any district attorney, or any assistant district attorney specially designated by the district attorney may apply ex parte to a judge of competent jurisdiction for a warrant to intercept wire or oral communications. 15 In short, argue appellants, the federal law recognizes only one applicant, the district attorney; the state statute would allow a second applicant, as here, the assistant district attorney. 16 If this were the complete statutory framework, appellants' argument would have formidable force: we would be confronting a state statute that gave an assistant district attorney power equal to that of a district attorney in initiating a request for court authority to intercept a telephonic communication. Such an expansion would run counter both to Sec. 2516(2), reposing application responsibility in one state official, and to the ample legislative history underscoring the need for centralization of policy relating to electronic surveillance in one top prosecutor at county and state levels. See infra, S.Rep. No. 1097, reprinted in 1968 U.S.Code Cong. & Ad.News 2112, at 2187. 17 But we do not confront a Sec. 99 F(1) standing alone and vulnerable. It has been fortified by the carapace of deliberate judicial interpretation and supplementary requirements imposed by the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court in Commonwealth v. Vitello, 367 Mass. 224, 327 N.E.2d 819 (1975). In that case the court not only subjected the Massachusetts statute to close scrutiny to determine whether or not it was in substantial compliance with the federal law, id. at 230, 327 N.E.2d 819, but added a detailed judicial gloss in the nature of a set of required procedures. It held that the procedures it mandated for the special designation by a district attorney of an assistant district attorney to apply for a warrant to intercept comport with the Federal enabling authority. Id. at 254, 327 N.E.2d 819. In reaching this conclusion, the Supreme Judicial Court imposed the following specific requirements: 18 1. It interpreted specially designated to mean that an assistant district attorney ... must bring the matter for examination before his senior officer, the district attorney; id. at 256, 327 N.E.2d 819. 19 2. [T]he district attorney is to determine whether a particular proposed use of electronic surveillance would be consistent with the overall policy. Id. This determination requires not a cursory but full examination by the district attorney of the application. Id. at 256 n. 16, 327 N.E.2d 819. 20 3. The district attorney must authorize each such application in writing, id. at 232, 256, 327 N.E.2d 819; the special designation of [an] ... assistant district attorney must be on a case by case basis with written authorization, id. at 257 n. 17, 327 N.E.2d 819. This satisfies the federal requirements even if they are read to require that the district attorney himself must apply for the warrant, but the court reads the federal requirements as being satisfied if the chief prosecuting officer has centralized authorizing power. Id. 21 The Supreme Judicial Court also recommended, [T]he better procedure is that the ... district attorney should cosign the application for the warrant with the designated assistant. Id. at 232, 327 N.E.2d 819. 22 The panel's decision, we now conclude, did not sufficiently take into account the extent to which Sec. 99 F(1) has been thus undergirded by Vitello. Unlike a situation where a state court interpretation might impose requirements less stringent than federal requirements, United States v. Marion, 535 F.2d 697, 702 (2d Cir.1976), the procedure mandated by the Supreme Judicial Court calls for far more protection than a mere form letter of designation, which would amount to nothing more than a standing order frustrating the twin congressional objectives of policy uniformity and political accountability, and would constitute an abdication of responsibility. The detailed review by a district attorney of every application for a proposed use of electronic surveillance on a case by case basis, and his written special designation of an assistant to submit and prosecute the application before a justice, would seem to satisfy fully the congressional objectives. Indeed, insofar as the Massachusetts procedures restrict the district attorney to designating only an assistant district attorney to apply for a warrant, it is narrower than the federal procedure. 23 All of this is consistent with what the Congress was trying to achieve. The Senate report relating to Sec. 2515(2) contains unmistakable clues to the meaning of apply, indicating its equivalence with authorize. It begins by saying that: 24 Section 2516 of the new chapter authorizes the interception of particular wire or oral communication under court order pursuant to the authorization of the appropriate Federal, State, or local prosecuting officer. S.Rep. No. 1097, reprinted in 1968 U.S.Code Cong. & Ad.News 2112, 2185. It continues with a sentence stating: 25 Paragraph (2) provides that the principal prosecuting attorney of any State or the principal prosecuting attorney of any political subdivision of a State may authorize an application to a State judge of competent jurisdiction, as defined in section 2510(9), for an order authorizing the interception of wire or oral communications. Id. at 2187. 26 The following sentence states that the issue of delegation by that officer would be a question of State law. Id. If all this sentence meant was merely that state law could permit an office messenger to deliver a district attorney's wiretap application to the superior court, it would seem clearly an exercise in supererogation. 27 The debate in the Congress confirms the Senate report. Senator McClellan, the bill's sponsor, repeatedly indicated that what was contemplated by the legislation was approval or authorization by the chief prosecuting attorney. 114 Cong.Rec. 11,208 (1968); 114 Cong.Rec. 11,231 (1968); 114 Cong.Rec. 14,469 (1968). 28 Appellants, as we understand them, do not contest the accuracy of this capsule summary of legislative history. They make their stand on the proposition that the words of the federal statute speak so clearly that recourse to legislative history is impermissible. They take the position that Sec. 2516(2) in authorizing a state district attorney to apply differs significantly from Sec. 2516(1), which authorizes the United States Attorney General or his specially designated assistant to authorize an application. Were these two words precise and antipathetic, we would agree; but they are not. Apply seems to us to range from the ministerial act of filing a paper with someone, to the more significant act of signing the paper that is filed, and to the most significant act of deciding that there should be a paper prepared, signed, and filed. Moreover, Sec. 2518(1)(a) states that each wiretap application shall include the identity of the investigative or law enforcement officer making the application, and the officer authorizing the application. Does apply apply to both categories? The answer would not seem so clear as to preclude resort to legislative history. 29 Finally, we are admonished that, when issues of preemption are involved, we must look at the relationship of state and federal laws as they are interpreted and applied, not merely as they are written. Jones v. Rath Packing Co., 430 U.S. 519, 526, 97 S.Ct. 1305, 1310, 51 L.Ed.2d 604 (1977). We are to look for an unambiguous Congressional mandate, Florida Lime & Avocado Growers, Inc. v. Paul, 373 U.S. 132, 147, 83 S.Ct. 1210, 1219, 10 L.Ed.2d 248 (1963), and to consult legislative history. Id. at 148-50, 83 S.Ct. at 1220-21. We have accordingly been sensitive to the claims of Congressional intent in approaching preemption claims. Grinnell Corp. v. Hackett, 475 F.2d 449, 454-57 (1st Cir.1973); Chrysler Corp. v. Rhodes, 416 F.2d 319, 323 (1st Cir.1969). 30 We therefore deem it both permissible and sensible to consider this clearly expressed intent of the Congress. As we have indicated, we are of the view that Sec. 99 F(1), as glossed by Vitello, is entirely consistent with the intent of Congress. We note that this holding places us in agreement with the Second Circuit in United States v. Tortorello, 480 F.2d 764 (1973) (though New York statutes defined applicant as a district attorney, it was sufficient if the district attorney approved an application prepared by his assistants) and in Alexander v. Harris, 595 F.2d 87, 89 (1979) (holding that a New Jersey statute allowing the district attorney to authorize in writing applications by investigative personnel was in conformity with Sec. 2516(2)); and with the Fifth Circuit in United States v. Pacheco, 489 F.2d 554 (1974) (holding that a Florida statute directing that the governor authorize initial applications was consistent with federal law). 31
32 Our holding that the Massachusetts statute, ch. 272, Sec. 99 F(1), as interpreted and strengthened by Vitello, is consistent with Sec. 2516(2) does not dispose of this issue. 33 If the preferred practice, recommended by the Supreme Judicial Court, of the district attorney cosigning every application had been followed, there would be no questioning the sufficiency of his authorization. This is so because the document itself would contain the detailed considerations that are expected to underlie a knowledgeable authorization. The presumption of regularity would be at its strongest. A self-evidencing authorization signature on any application for an order approving the interception of a wire or oral communication, 18 U.S.C. Sec. 2518(1), would be entitled to the greatest deference. United States v. Turner, 528 F.2d 143, 151 (9th Cir.1975) ([I]t is to be presumed that the officer has properly exercised the judgment called for by the statute when he affixes his signature to an order authorizing an application.) As a matter of common sense it seems to us to impose no real extra burden on a district attorney to affix his signature to an application that he has already considered in detail. 34 It is of course true that the lack of such a document and the presumption it would enjoy is not fatal to the government. The absence of a compelling signature on a critical document can be remedied by proof of actual authority. United States v. Chavez, 416 U.S. 562, 572-74, 94 S.Ct. 1849, 1854-55, 40 L.Ed.2d 380 (1974); United States v. Ivic, 700 F.2d 51 (2d Cir.1983); United States v. Scully, 546 F.2d 255 (9th Cir.1976); United States v. Falcone, 505 F.2d 478 (3d Cir.1974); United States v. Roberts, 477 F.2d 57 (7th Cir.1973). But litigation is invited. 35 In the instant case it seems to us that there must be further exploration in the district court of the existence and extent of authorizations specifically given by the district attorney. In the first place the letters of designation are identical letters, in skeletal form, and purport to authorize applications for renewal in a blanket, open-ended manner. 2 In the second place, although each of the five applications for renewal contains an averment by the assistant district attorney that he was authorized by the district attorney, there is no written evidence of each such authorization. There is merely the averment of the district attorney in his affidavit that any determination to expand the electronic surveillance or renew the order is made by me after a thorough review. 36 Although the authorization process portrayed in these documents may comply fully with the requirements of Title III, the district court did not make a particularistic inquiry into this matter in either the Claudius Smith or the Norman Amado cases. In the latter the affidavits and exhibits of District Attorney Flanagan and Assistant District Attorney Crossen were not relied on for decision and in the former such data were not introduced. In the Amado case, the affidavits and exhibits portray a process in which the district attorney was much more engaged in the essential decision making than was shown in the record in the Smith cases. It must be noted, however, that the filings in the Amado case came after the panel's decision in the Smith cases. We think that defendants should have some opportunity to test the sufficiency of the government's documentation and that the government should have an opportunity to try to remedy any perceived deficiency. We emphasize here what should be obvious, that the failure of the Massachusetts District Attorney to follow the cosigning recommendation of the Supreme Judicial Court in Vitello has necessitated a detailed factual inquiry by the district court. We hope that in the future this will not be necessary. 37 Should the court find that any interception was in fact not properly authorized, it should determine whether the admission of evidence therefrom requires setting aside any judgment of conviction and ordering a new trial for the individual or individuals affected. In such case the government could, if it wished, appeal. Should the court find no error requiring a new trial, it should file its findings of fact and conclusions of law, after which appeal if desired may follow in normal course. 38