State v. Wilson

306 A.2d 743, 1973 Del. Super. LEXIS 167
CourtSuperior Court of Delaware
DecidedJune 5, 1973
StatusPublished
Cited by6 cases

This text of 306 A.2d 743 (State v. Wilson) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Superior Court of Delaware primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
State v. Wilson, 306 A.2d 743, 1973 Del. Super. LEXIS 167 (Del. Ct. App. 1973).

Opinion

OPINION

BUSH, Judge.

The defendants have been charged with various violations of the State drug laws. Motions to suppress the contents of intercepted telephone communications and all evidence resulting therefrom have been filed on behalf of all of the defendants in the several cases. The wiretap involved was conducted by members of the Wilmington, New Castle County and Delaware State Police Departments, pursuant to an order of a Superior Court judge issued on August 1, 1972. The telephone involved in all the motions was located at 203 Concord Avenue, Wilmington, Delaware, and was listed in the name of George Lee Wilson. Defendant Wilson was the only individual specifically named, but the cases against certain of the defendants are based on evidence obtained against them as a result of the wiretap authorized against Wilson. For purposes of ruling on the motions, the cases shall be treated as one. The necessary factual background will be set forth when pertinent to the resolution of a given issue.

Broadly stated, defendants raise two issues: (1) whether 11 Del.C. § 757, The Delaware Wiretapping and Electronic Surveillance Act, violates on its face the First, *746 Fourth, and Fifth Amendments to the Constitution of the United States and Article 1, Section 6 of the Constitution of the State of Delaware, Del.C.Ann.; and (2) whether 11 Del.C. § 757, as applied in the present instance, violates the Fourth Amendment.

Defendants’ first argument is that wiretapping is intrinsically violative of the First Amendment since fear of electronic surveillance inhibits the exercise of the rights guaranteed thereby.

This Court does not feel that fear of surveillance of communications, when that surveillance is circumscribed under Fourth Amendment standards, amounts to a denial of free speech under the First Amendment. This Court finds 11 Del.C. § 757 not vi-olative of First Amendment rights. See United States v. Escardar, 319 F. Supp. 295, 302 (S.D.Fla.1970); State v. Siegel, 13 Md.App. 444, 285 A.2d 671, 677 (1971) aff’d 266 Md. 256, 292 A.2d 86 (1972).

Defendants also contend that 11 Del.C. § 757 violates the Fifth Amendment since it allows incriminating testimonial statements obtained through wiretaps to be used as evidence against an individual contrary to his will.

The Supreme Court has treated statements seized by means of electronic surveillance as a search subject to the requirements of the Fourth Amendment. Therefore, the provisions of 11 Del.C. § 757 relate to searches and seizures, and must satisfy the requirements of the Fourth Amendment. Since this Court holds, as will be discussed below, that 11 Del.C. § 757 meets these requirements, it cannot be validly maintained that the Statute’s provisions violate the privilege against self-incrimination. Such a reading would render the Fourth Amendment protections as set out in Berger v. State of New York, 388 U.S. 41, 87 S.Ct. 1873, 18 L.Ed.2d 1040 (1967) and Katz v. United States, 389 U.S. 347, 88 S.Ct. 507, 19 L. Ed.2d 576 (1967) a redundancy. Therefore, this Court holds that 11 Del.C. § 757 does not violate the Fifth Amendment. See United States v. Escardar, 319 F.Supp. 295, 302 (S.D.Fla.1970); United States v. Cafero, 473 F.2d 489 (3rd Cir. 1973).

Defendants’ broadest attack on the constitutionality of 11 Del.C. § 757 is based on the Fourth Amendment and Article 1, Section 6 of the Delaware Constitution. It is argued that 11 Del.C. § 757 violates the Fourth Amendment both facially and as applied in the present case. The arguments as to facial invalidity will be considered first.

Defendants initially contend that the Fourth Amendment precludes “any” electronic surveillance since wiretapping is inherently violative of the right to privacy. This Court refuses to so hold since such a contention was rejected in Berger, supra, 388 U.S. at 49-53, 87 S.Ct. 1873.

Defendants next contend that the duration and continuous nature of the search permitted by 11 Del.C. § 757 results in its unconstitutionality. Specifically, it is argued that the statute is not precise nor carefully circumscribed and permits interception for up to a thirty-day period with one showing of probable cause. Therefore, it is said that the statute presents the constitutional objection to lengthy surveillance expressed in Berger.

This Court finds the arguments unpersuasive. The Statute’s intrusion is precisely confined. Section 757(h)(3) requires that each application must contain

“A particular statement of the facts . including:
(b) The details as to the particular offense
(c) The particular type of communication to be intercepted;
(d) The nature and location of the particular wire communication facilities involved on the particular place where the oral communication is to be intercepted;

*747 Further, an order may issue only if the Court, upon consideration of the application, is able to make the specific findings required by 11 Del.C. § 757(i). Finally, the order itself must conform with the requirements of 11 Del.C. § 757(k). In short, this Court believes that 11 Del.C. § 757 is as precise and limited as are the requirements of Berger and Katz.

In regard to the argument that the statute is unconstitutional because it allows a thirty-day continuous search with one showing of probable cause, it must be noted that the thirty-day period is a statutory maximum. The specific life span of each order is determined by the particular facts of the case; and, therefore, may be much shorter than the thirty-day maximum. Moreover, each interception is subject to termination prior to the running of the full authorized life span since 11 Del.C. § 757 (k) provides that the order may require progress reports to the issuing judge which can possibly result in the early termination of the surveillance.

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State v. Perry
599 A.2d 759 (Superior Court of Delaware, 1990)
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133 Misc. 2d 795 (New York County Courts, 1986)
State v. Miller
449 A.2d 1065 (Superior Court of Delaware, 1982)
Wilson v. State
343 A.2d 613 (Supreme Court of Delaware, 1975)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
306 A.2d 743, 1973 Del. Super. LEXIS 167, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-v-wilson-delsuperct-1973.