Court Opinion

ID: 9461167
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-04 22:07:39.228742+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T17:36:55.417950
License: Public Domain

ROSENN, Circuit Judge
(dissenting).
I respectfully dissent because I believe that the Government’s inability to provide a “satisfactory explanation” for its failure to have the recordings sealed “immediately” by the court requires that the recordings be suppressed in accordance with the language of the statute, 18 U.S.C. § 2518(8)(a).
Two wiretaps are involved in this case. The first, the Fort Lee wiretap, was authorized by Judge Lacey of the District Court of New Jersey on August 28, 1972. The authorization was valid for twenty days, and successive twenty-day extensions were granted on September 15 and October 5. The wiretap was removed on October 16, although the final extension did not expire until October 25. Nevertheless, the tapes were not presented to the court for sealing until December 1, forty-five days after the removal of the wiretap.
The second wiretap, the Philadelphia wiretap, was authorized by Judge Davis of the Eastern District of Pennsylvania on November 30, 1972. The initial fifteen-day authorization was extended for an additional fifteen days on December 15. Actual surveillance terminated on December 15, and the authorization expired on December 30. However, the tapes were not presented to the court for sealing until January 30, 1973, also forty-five days after the removal of this wiretap.
Eighteen U.S.C. § 2518(8) (a) provides specifically that “[i]mmediately upon the expiration of the period of the order, or extensions thereof, such recordings shall be made available to the judge issuing such order and sealed under his directions.” 1 (Emphasis supplied.) In both *486of the wiretaps before us it cannot be said that the protracted delay in presenting the recordings to the appropriate court for sealing was consistent with the explicit statutory requirement that the sealing follow “immediately upon the expiration of the period of the order, or extensions thereof . . ” The majority’s conclusion that in this ease “[tjhere is no doubt but that the tapes were not sealed in accordance with the statute” is, therefore, inescapable.2
Congress clearly intended that violation of the § 2518(8) (a) sealing requirement be governed by the final sentence of § 2518(8)(a).3 This provision states that “[t]he presence of the seal provided for by this subsection, or a satisfactory explanation for the absence thereof, shall be a prerequisite for the use or disclosure of the contents of any wire or oral communication or evidence derived therefrom . . . ,”4 (Emphasis supplied.)
I therefore turn to the question of whether the Government has provided the “satisfactory explanation” for the protracted delays in sealing the tapes which is a “prerequisite” to their admissibility into evidence.5 The Government’s asserted explanation for the delay in sealing the tapes was that “the tapes were used to make a composite tape and to transcribe certain of the tapes.” Brief for Appellee at 27.
I do not believe that this is in any sense a “satisfactory” explanation within the contemplation of the statute. The Government’s witnesses testified at trial that there was always a “back-up recorder” simultaneously activated with the primary recorder by the lifting of the telephone receiver. Except for such occasions when one or the other of the machines malfunctioned, therefore, two recordings were made of all intercepted conversations. There was thus a duplicate tape available from which the Government could have made a composite tape and transcribed the conversations. The Government has not offered any reason why it could not have immediately submitted one of the sets of tapes for sealing and used the other set to make the composite tape.
Even were all or some of the conversations recorded on only a single set of tapes, the Government’s delay of over a month in sealing the tapes is inexcusable. The penultimate sentence of § 2518(8) (a), see note 1 supra, specifically provides that duplicate recordings may be made by the Government for use or disclosure. The Government could have readily copied the tapes by high speed reproduction methods immediately after *487the surveillance on each telephone was completed, and thereupon presented the original copies to the court for sealing. The feasibility of this procedure is apparent in light of the Government testimony at the pre-trial suppression hearing that the originals of the tapes were reproduced for defense counsel by high speed methods while the Government agent waited.
The only case of which I am aware which treats the question of what constitutes a “satisfactory explanation” for delayed sealing of tapes under § 2518(8) (a) is United States v. Poeta, 455 F.2d 117 (2d Cir.), cert. denied, 406 U.S. 948, 92 S.Ct. 2041, 32 L.Ed.2d 337 (1972). In that case the state court judge who had issued a wiretap order was on vacation when the order expired. Because of a provision of the New York Criminal Procedural Law, the police believed that only that same judge could accept the tapes for sealing. Finally, 13 days after the wiretap order had expired, the recordings were brought to another state judge who ordered them sealed. The court stated:
We are satisfied that the delay of the police in delivering the tapes for sealing was entirely excusable in light of the wording of the New York statute. No claim is made that the tapes were altered or that the appellant was in any way prejudiced by the delay.
455 F.2d at 122.
In the instant case, unlike Poeta, the Government does not and could not contend that there is any ambiguity in the explicit statutory requirement that the tapes be “immediately” sealed. The delays in sealing the tapes were about a month and one-half in each instance in contrast to the 13 days in Poeta. Moreover, in contrast to Poeta, the defendants in the instant case did raise the possibility at the suppression hearing that certain of the tapes had been altered, although the district court found this contention to be without merit.6 I believe, therefore,, that Poeta does not provide support for the majority’s position.
The majority appears to hold that even though the Government may not have provided a satisfactory explanation for the delay in sealing the tapes in this case, the tapes were properly admitted into evidence because of the district court’s finding of fact that the tapes had not been tampered with before being sealed. This rationale would appear to excuse even a total failure by the Government to seal the tapes and a total failure by the Government to provide an explanation for the lack of a seal.
I do not believe that this rationale, which is in effect a “harmless error” rule, can be the stirrup upon which the Government can mount its effort to avoid the consequences of its failure to comply with the explicit statutory requirement that the tapes be immediately sealed. I find support for this view in the recent cases of United States v. Giordano, 416 U.S. 505, 94 S.Ct. 1820, 40 L.Ed.2d 341 (1974), and, United States v. Chavez, 416 U.S. 562, 94 S.Ct. 1849, 40 L.Ed.2d 380 (1974). In those cases the Supreme Court dealt with the question of what constitutes an “unlawful” interception which must be suppressed under § 2518(10)(a). The Court held that interception was unlawful under that statutory provision
where there is a failure to satisfy any of those statutory requirements that directly and substantially implement the congressional intention to limit the *488use of intercept procedures to those situations clearly calling for the employment of this extraordinary investigative device.
416 U.S. at 527, 94 S.Ct. at 1832.
In the instant case, there is no need to apply this standard because § 2518(8) (a), rather than § 2518(10)(a), applies. Nevertheless, to the extent that the standard is useful in determining whether an implied exception should be read into the clear language of § 2518(8) (a), I believe that the quoted language supports my position that the wiretaps in this case must be suppressed. Section 2518(8) (a) contains numerous procedures for the handling of wiretap records. The legislative history of the section makes clear that these requirements were intended as “safeguards designed to insure that accurate records will be kept of intercepted communications.” S. Rep.No.1097, 90th Cong., 2d Sess. (1968), reprinted in 1968 U.S.Code Cong. & Admin.News 2112, 2193. One of the reasons for these requirements, including the sealing requirement, is obviously to protect citizens, when they are called upon to defend themselves, from intentional or inadvertent alterations of the wiretap records secured by means of this extraordinary and secretive investigative device. Such alterations may be very difficult to detect, and fact finding by the district court is inherently less reliable than a strict sealing requirement.7 Perhaps in recognition of these possibilities, Congress expressly selected a strict requirement that the tapes not be admitted into evidence unless a satisfactory explanation is offered for a failure to seal them. Congress having expressly chosen a standard offering significant protection to the citizen, I believe, in the language of Giordano, that the strict sealing requirement “directly and substantially implements the congressional intention” of maintaining the integrity of the tapes. Therefore, it is my view that the majority is unjustified in creating an exception to the express language of § 2518(8)(a).
I recognize that adoption of my position as expressed in this dissent would put to naught in this case considerable investigative and prosecutorial effort by the Government, as well as considerable judicial effort expended in the lengthy hearings and trial in the district court. Moreover, I am aware that some charge courts with unjustifiably expanding the rights of the accused beyond the parameters intended by Congress or by the framers of the Constitution. In this case, however, it is Congress that has expressly spoken in favor of protecting an accused whose conversations have been secretly recorded. It is Congress that has in its wisdom expressly stated that under the circumstances before us the recorded conversations may not be admitted into evidence. The principle of protecting a citizen from the possibilities of altering or tampering with his intercepted conversation recorded by secret devices is so precious that it should not be diluted by any inclination to excuse the Government from its own serious dereliction. The Supreme Court’s recent holding in Giordano that wiretaps which were not personally authorized by the Attorney General, as specifically required by statute, must be suppressed, affected 60 cases, 626 defendants and immeasurable effort and expense on the part of the Organized Crime Section of the Criminal Division of the Justice Department. See United States v. Chavez, 416 U.S. 562, 94 S.Ct. 1849 (1974) (Douglas, J., concurring and dissenting). Nonetheless, the Supreme Court required adherence to the terms of the Congressional statute. We can do no less in this case. I would therefore reverse the convictions at issue on this appeal.

. 18 U.S.C. § 2518(8) (a) states:
(8) (a) The contents of any wire or oral communication intercepted by any means authorized by this chapter shall, if possible, be recorded on tape or wire or other comparable device. The recording of the contents of any wire or oral communication under this subsection shall be done in such way as will protect the recording from editing or other alterations. Immediately upon *486the expiration of the period of the order, or extensions thereof, such recordings shall be made available to the judge issuing such order and sealed under his directions. Custody of the recordings shall be wherever the judge orders. They shall not be destroyed except upon an order of the issuing or denying judge and in any event shall be kept for ten years. Duplicate recordings may be made for use or disclosure pursuant to the provisions of subsections (1) and (2) of section 2517 of this chapter for investigations. The presence of the seal provided for by this subsection, or a satisfactory explanation for the absence thereof, shall be a prerequisite for the use or disclosure of the contents of any wire or oral communication or evidence derived therefrom under subsection (3) of section 2517.

. In light of this conclusion it is unnecessary to consider at this time the defendant’s contention that the tapes then available must be sealed immediately upon the expiration of the original authorization as well as upon the expiration of each extension of the original order.

. As the majority properly notes, a violation of the sealing requirement does not mean that “the communication was unlawfully intercepted,” and so suppression is not required under § 2518(10)(a).

. See note 1 supra.

. I agree with the implication in United States v. Poeta, 455 F.2d 117, 122 (2d Cir.), cert. denied, 406 U.S. 948, 92 S.Ct. 2041, 32 L.Ed.2d 337 (1972), that § 2518(8) (a) requires that a satisfactory explanation be provided not only for the Government’s total failure to obtain a seal for the tapes, but also for a failure “immediately” to seal the tapes. Any other construction of the statutory language would completely undercut the statutory purpose of protecting the integrity of the tapes.

. In moving at trial for suppression of the tapes, counsel for the defense pointed to undisputed evidence at the pre-trial minimization hearing that (1) a privileged conversation (which should not have been recorded) which a Government agent testified to having overheard when previously listening to the tapes did not appear on the tape when played in open court, and (2) a conversation listed in the Government’s log did not appear on the tapes, and the beginning of the following conversation which was on the tapes appeared to be missing.
The court found that there was “no basis at all in the entire record” to doubt the testimony of the Government agent in charge of the case that there was no tampering with the tapes.

. Of course, fact finding may still be required even if the Government does comply with the sealing requirement, since the tapes need not be sealed until all the recordings pei'mitted pursuant to the same court order have been made. Congress’ failure to provide absolute protection to the defendant, however, does not justify our weakening the protective structure that Congress does provide.