Court Opinion

ID: 9463121
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-04 22:58:31.875695+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T17:37:56.501993
License: Public Domain

WILLIAM J. CAMPBELL, Senior District Judge
(dissenting).
In support of the application for a wire tap authorization, Agent Speidell filed a *437lengthy affidavit wherein he asserted that his “sources”, one of whom was later identified as Police Lieutenant Thomas P. Nelson, “have both stated they will not, under any circumstances, testify in any legal proceeding to the information they have furnished, for to do so would place their lives and the lives of their family in jeopardy.” In my view, it is wholly unrealistic to characterize this statement as anything less than a knowing and intentional falsehood. Officer Nelson, in fact, testified that he was not afraid of Stanley Anderson, and had not told Agent Speidell that he feared for his life or the lives of his wife and children. In substance, the testimony of Officer Nelson showed that he was reluctant to testify — • that he would have preferred not to testify — because of his personal association with Anderson, who apparently at one time had been his next door neighbor. He no doubt expressed this desire to Agent Speidell in no uncertain terms. But since Agent Speidell knew that Nelson was a police officer, he must have known that, if subpoenaed, Nelson of course would testify. And there was absolutely no basis for the assertion that Nelson feared for his life and the lives of his family. The statement was false and I cannot conceive that Agent Speidell did not know it was false. Under United States v. Carmichael, 489 F.2d 983, 988 (7th Cir.1973), the evidence should have been suppressed.
I am also of the view that the conviction of appellant Gokey for conspiracy should have been reversed. Although he introduced Anderson to Traub and knew the purpose of their prospective association with one another, he did not participate in the venture and had no stake in its outcome. In fact, he declined an invitation to participate. The record is bereft of any indication that appellant Gokey entered into an agreement to engage in activities proscribed by 18 U.S.C. § 1084.