United States v. DePalma

461 F. Supp. 800, 1978 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 15387
District Court, S.D. New York·Decided September 21, 1978·No. 78 Cr. 401·Published·Cited by 34 cases

Opinion

OPINION

SWEET, District Judge.

In an omnibus motion, all defendants in this multicount indictment alleging a pattern of racketeering activity and securities fraud and bankruptcy fraud conspiracies in connection with the operation of the Westchester Premier Theatre (the “Theatre”) have moved, pursuant to Rule 41(b), Fed.R. Crim.P., and 18 U.S.C. § 2518(10)(a), for an order suppressing evidence obtained as a result of electronic surveillance authorized by five court orders:

a. An order signed March 10, 1977 by the Honorable Malcolm Lucas of the Central District of California (“Order # 1”);

b. An order signed April 8, 1977 by Judge Lucas (“Order # 2”);

c. An order signed May 5, 1977 by the Honorable Whitman Knapp of the Southern District of New York (“Order # 3”);

d. An order signed June 21, 1977 by Judge Knapp (“Order # 4”): and

e. An order signed June 28, 1977 by Judge Knapp (“Order # 5”).

The defendants have moved to suppress this wiretap evidence on the basis of the affidavits relied upon by the courts for issuance of the orders, failure of the Government to minimize properly the interception of non-pertinent communications, improper security surrounding the making and storage of tapes prior to sealing and failure to amend properly the orders.

In addition, defendant Weisman has moved to dismiss the indictment against him on the ground that the Government improperly utilized testimony Weisman had given in prior proceedings under an alleged grant of immunity. Weisman has also moved to suppress certain post-arrest statements made by him which the Government is alleged to have improperly obtained.

This court held hearings on August 8, 9, 10, 11, 28 and 29 with regard to factual issues raised by these motions. For the reasons stated below, defendants’ motion to suppress evidence obtained through the five court ordered wiretaps is denied. The motions of defendant Weisman are granted with respect to certain statements and denied as to others.

*804 The background of this action, including the allegations of the Indictment, have been set forth in this court’s opinion of August 26, 1978 and will not be repeated here. As part of the Government’s investigation of the alleged illegal activities which resulted in the instant Indictment, five wiretap orders, two in California and three in New York, were obtained and it is the fruits of these wiretaps which the defendants seek to exclude in this case.

I. Defendants’ Motions to Suppress Wiretap Evidence.

The Sufficiency of the Affidavits.

The five wiretap orders were all issued-pursuant to Title III of the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets Act of 1968, 18 U.S.C. §§ 2510-2520, whose purpose “was effectively to prohibit, on the pain of criminal and civil penalties, all interceptions of oral and wire communications, except those specifically provided for in the Act, most notably those interceptions permitted to law enforcement officers when authorized by court order” in certain circumstances. United States v. Giordano, 416 U.S. 505, 514, 94 S.Ct. 1820, 1826, 40 L.Ed.2d 341 (1974). Central to this regulatory scheme is the requirement under 18 U.S.C. § 2518(3) 1 that a court issuing an intercept order must make the following specific findings. First, it must determine that probable cause exists in three distinct contexts: (a) an individual has or is about to commit an enumerated offense; 2 (b) communications concerning that offense will be obtained through such interception; and (c) the communication facilities intercepted are being used in connection with the commission of the offense by such individual. Second, the issuing court must determine that it is reasonably unlikely that normal investigative techniques would succeed if tried or would .be too dangerous.

Defendants challenge the evidence obtained as a result of these wiretaps on two principal grounds. First, they challenge the sufficiency of the affidavits of the Government agents upon which the courts relied in issuing the wiretap orders as failing to establish the requisite probable cause. Second, they assert the affidavits failed to establish a need for electronic surveillance under Section 2518(3). Before turning to the specific objections, the background and scope of each of the court-authorized wiretaps will be set forth.

Background of the Wiretaps.

In Order # 1, Judge Lucas authorized the interception of wire communications over two telephones located at the home of defendant Marson. In so doing, Judge Lucas found there was probable cause to believe that Marson and others (not including any defendants in this case) were committing various state and federal crimes consti *805 tuting a pattern of racketeering in connection with the supply of cleaning materials to Las Vegas hotels by a Las Vegas cleaning supply and service company; that there were communications over Marson’s telephones concerning these activities; ■ and that there was no reasonable likelihood that normal investigative procedures would be successful. 3 Judge Lucas’ findings were based upon the affidavit of Special Agent Melvin L. Flohr of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (“FBI”), dated March 10, 1977. 4 The factual basis of Agent Flohr’s affidavit is premised upon three confidential informants (denoted as Source One, Source Two and Source Three) who relayed, through other FBI agents, the substance of conversations had with, and observations of, Marson and others named in the order. Information obtained from these sources as set forth in Agent Flohr’s affidavit alleged that cleaning supply and service contracts would be obtained from these hotels through threats to call outstanding loans or otherwise to cause problems at the hotels. Additionally, it was indicated that future cleaning supply and service contracts from other companies and state agencies would be obtained improperly. These sources also indicated that Marson used his residence telephones in seeking to accomplish these ends. All three sources were alleged to have had a history of credibility and trustworthiness.

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United States v. DePalma, 461 F. Supp. 800, 1978 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 15387 (S.D.N.Y. 1978).

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