United States v. Glover

583 F. Supp. 2d 21, 2008 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 85648, 2008 WL 4693390
District Court, District of Columbia·Decided October 22, 2008·No. Criminal Action 07-153(TFH)·Published·Cited by 3 cases

Opinion

MEMORANDUM OPINION

THOMAS F. HOGAN, District Judge.

Pending before the Court are (1) Defendant Lonnell Glover’s Motion To Suppress Evidence Obtained From Interception Of Wire Communications And Seizure Of Electronic Communications [Docket No. 232] and (2) Defendant Lonnell Glover’s Motion To Suppress Evidence Obtained *25 From Interceptions Of Communications In And Within The Vicinity Of A 1998 Chevrolet Pickup Truck, District Of Columbia Registration BZ0597 [Docket No. 293]. The Court will deny both motions for the reasons that follow.

BACKGROUND

On November 8, 2007, Lonnell Glover and fifteen co-defendants were indicted by a federal grand jury pursuant to a su-perceding indictment that charges them with one count of conspiring to distribute and possess with the intent to distribute mixtures and substances containing one kilogram or more of phencyclidine (“PCP”) and heroin in violation of 21 U.S.C. §§ 841(a)(1), 841(b)(l)(A)(iv), 841(b)(l)(A)(I), and 846. 1 In addition, ten individuals were named as unindicted co-conspirators, one of whom, Anthony Suggs, was the focus of the original criminal investigation into the distribution of PCP in the Washington, D.C., area. Glover became ensnared in the criminal investigation after the interception of communications from Suggs’s mobile phone revealed that Glover likely was supplying PCP to Suggs.

The bulk of the evidence law enforcement agents obtained while investigating the case against Glover and his co-defendants consisted of electronic surveillance conducted in accordance with a number of court orders Judge Rosemary Collyer issued. The court orders authorized the government to intercept communications from several mobile phones, including Glover’s personal mobile phone (the “mobile phone wiretap”) 2 and a mobile phone the government secretly installed in his pickup truck (the “truck bug”). 3 According to the government, the court-authorized electronic surveillance resulted in the interception of 21,183 communications. Govt’s Resp. to Defs.’ Several Mots, to Suppress the Results of Court Ordered Electronic Surveillance (“Govt’s Resp. Br.”) 4. Glover now moves to suppress the contents of communications intercepted from his mobile phone and the truck bug, as well as any evidence derived from the intercepted communications, based primarily on asserted flaws in the affidavits the government submitted to support its applications for court orders permitting electronic surveillance.

ANALYSIS

The legal standards that govern an application for a court order authorizing the interception of wire, oral, or electronic communications are defined by statute:

*26 Title III of the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets Act of 1968, 18 U.S.C. § 2510 et seq., authorizes the district court to approve an application for the interception of certain wire, oral, or electronic communications. 18 U.S.C. § 2518. The wiretap statute requires that an application for a wiretap shall be in writing, under oath, and shall contain certain information including “a full and complete statement of the facts and circumstances relied upon by the applicant ] to justify his belief that an order should be issued.” Id. § 2518(1). On the basis of the facts submitted by the applicant, the district court may authorize a wiretap upon finding that (1) probable cause exists to believe that an individual has committed or is about to commit one of certain enumerated offenses; (2) probable cause exists to believe that “particular communications concerning that offense will be obtained” through an interception; (3) “normal investigative procedures have been tried and have failed or reasonably appear to be unlikely to succeed if tried”; and (4) probable cause exists to believe that the communication facility sought to be wiretapped “[is] being used, or [is] about to be used, in connection with the commission of [the] offense.” Id. § 2518(3)(a-d); see United States v. Donovan, 429 U.S. 413, 435, 97 S.Ct. 658, 50 L.Ed.2d 652 (1977). The determination that “normal investigative procedures have been tried and have failed or reasonably appear to be unlikely to succeed if tried or to be too dangerous,” 18 U.S.C. § 2518(3)(c), is referred to as the “necessity requirement,” and it is the “keystone of congressional regulation of electronic eavesdropping.” United States v. Williams, 580 F.2d 578, 587-588 (D.C.Cir.1978).
The wiretapping statute also requires that “[e]very [wiretap] order and extension thereof shall contain a provision that the authorization to intercept shall be executed as soon as practicable [and] shall be conducted in such a way as to minimize the interception of communications not otherwise subject to interception. ...” 18 U.S.C. § 2518(5). This is referred to as the “minimization requirement.” Although “[t]he statute does not forbid the interception of all nonrelevant conversations,” the government must make reasonable efforts to “minimize” the interception of such conversations. Scott v. United States, 436 U.S. 128, 139-40, 98 S.Ct. 1717, 56 L.Ed.2d 168 (1978). The statute also provides that an order authorizing an interception cannot extend “for any period longer than is necessary to achieve the objective of the authorization, nor in any event longer than thirty days.” 18 U.S.C. § 2518(5).
The wiretap statute provides that “no part of the contents of [intercepted] communication and no evidence derived therefrom may be received in evidence in any trial, hearing, or other proceeding ... if the disclosure of that information would be in violation of this chapter.” Id. § 2515. The “aggrieved person” may move to suppress the introduction of wiretap evidence or its fruits if “the communication was unlawfully intercepted,” the “order of authorization or approval under which it was intercepted is insufficient on its face,” or if “the interception was not made in conformity with the order of authorization or approval.” Id. § 2518(10)(a)(i-iii); see Donovan, 429 U.S. at 433-34, 97 S.Ct. 658, 50 L.Ed.2d 652.

United States v. Carter,

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United States v. Glover, 583 F. Supp. 2d 21, 2008 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 85648, 2008 WL 4693390 (D.D.C. 2008).

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