Wilson v. State

343 A.2d 613, 1975 Del. LEXIS 443
CourtSupreme Court of Delaware
DecidedJuly 17, 1975
StatusPublished
Cited by20 cases

This text of 343 A.2d 613 (Wilson v. State) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Supreme Court of Delaware primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Wilson v. State, 343 A.2d 613, 1975 Del. LEXIS 443 (Del. 1975).

Opinions

HERRMANN, Chief Justice

(for the majority of the Court) :

The defendant seeks review of his conviction in the Superior Court on charges of possession of narcotic drugs with intent to sell (16 Del.C. § 4752); possession of a deadly firearm during the commission of a felony (11 Del.C. § 468A) ; and possession [615]*615of firearms by a person convicted of a felony (11 Del.C. § 468B). In general, defendant challenges the legality of a telephone wiretap; the authentication of the wiretap tapes; the sufficiency of the evidence to support conviction on the drug charges; the applicability and constitutionality of § 468A; the Trial Court’s instructions to the jury regarding possession of a deadly firearm during the commission of a felony; and the legality of the search of the defendant’s house. We consider those issues seriatim.

I.

Defendant’s conviction is attributable to evidence obtained from a telephone wiretap authorized under the Delaware Wiretapping and Electronic Surveillance Act (hereinafter “Delaware'Act”), 11 Del.C. § 757 (recently recodified as 11 Del.C. § 1336). At trial, the defendant challenged the admissibility of the wiretap product and all evidence resulting from it, alleging numerous violations of his constitutional rights. On appeal, he repeats his attack upon the legality of the wiretap.

In denying motions to suppress the intercepted telephone- communications at issue, the Superior Court upheld the constitutionality of 11 Del.C. § 757. See State v. Wilson, Del.Super., 306 A.2d 743 (1973). Reference is made thereto for a detailed statement of the factual background pertinent to the contentions here under consideration.

A.

The defendant contends generally that Title III of the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets Act of 1968, 18 U.S.C.A. §§ 2510-2520, and the Delaware Act, which is patterned after the Federal Act, are facially unconstitutional.

In support of that contention, the defendant argues generally that wiretapping violates (1) the rights of privacy freedom of association, expression, and communication protected by the First Amendment; (2) the Fourth Amendment’s guarantees that all searches must be reasonable and authorized by proper warrant; and (3) the fundamental constitutional guarantees of the Fifth Amendment. In effect, defendant’s initial argument is that the First, Fourth and Fifth Amendments and Article 1, Section 6 of the Delaware Constitution1 preclude any wiretapping. We reject those contentions.

The essential constitutionality of wiretapping and electronic surveillance statutes is no longer in doubt. A statute prescribing narrowly restricted wiretapping under carefully circumscribed conditions is permissible. Berger v. New York, 388 U. S. 41, 87 S.Ct. 1873, 18 L.Ed.2d 1040 (1967); Katz v. United States, 389 U.S. 347, 88 S.Ct. 507, 19 L.Ed.2d 576 (1967). The sweeping arguments made by the defendant in this regard have been rejected by all of the Circuit Courts of Appeal cases which have come to our attention. See e. g., United States v. Tortorello, 2 Cir., 480 F.2d 764 (1973); United States v. Cafero, 3 Cir., 473 F.2d 489 (1973); Unit ed States v. Sklaroff, 5 Cir., 506 F.2d 837 (1975); United States v. Cox, 8 Cir., 462 F.2d 1293 (1972); Cox v. United States, 10 Cir., 449 F.2d 679 (1971).

B.

Focusing more directly on the Delaware Wiretap Act, defendant contends generally that the Act is constitutionally defective because: (1) of the duration and continuous nature of the search permitted under it; (2) it places too much discretion in the hands of the police officers executing a [616]*616wiretap order; and (3) prompt notice to those who have been subjected to such surveillance is not required. In general, the defendant argues that the Delaware Act does not, meet the constitutional standards set by Berger v. New York, supra, and incorporated in Title III of the Omnibus Crime Act. His arguments are obviously taken from United States v. Whitaker, E.D.Pa., 343 F.Supp. 358 (1972).

We decline to engage in a lengthy analysis of those arguments. They were considered by the Court below and found unpersuasive. 306 A.2d at 746. We agree with the Superior Court “that the authorization of electronic surveillance and interception of wire communications as authorized by [the Delaware Act] violates none of the constitutional provisions raised * * *.” 306 A.2d at 748 (1973). In addition, although not called to our attention by defense counsel, we note that the position taken by the Whitaker Court as to -the same constitutional arguments was rejected in United States v. Cafero, 3 Cir., 473 F.2d 489 (1973) and, further, that Whitaker itself was ultimately reversed. 474 F.2d 1246 (1973).

More specifically, the defendant argues that the Delaware Wiretap Act unconstitutionally places uncontrolled discretion in the hands of those executing a wiretap order because it does not state in the words of the Federal Act that the interception “must terminate upon attainment of the authorized objective, * * *.” 18 U.S.C. § 2518(5).

The Delaware Wiretap Act provision applicable here2 [11 Del.C. § 757(k)(6)] required that a wiretap order provide:

“The period of time during which such interception is authorized, including a statement as.to whether or not the interception shall automatically terminate when the described communication has been first obtained.
No order entered under this section shall authorize the interception of any ’wire or oral communication for a period of time in excess of that necessary under the circumstances. Every order entered under this section shall require that such interception begin and terminate as soon as practicable and be conducted in such a manner as to minimize’ or eliminate the interception of such communications not otherwise subject to interception under this act. In no case shall an order entered under this section authorize the interception of wire or oral communications for any period exceeding 30 days.”

This section was identical to Section 12 of the New Jersey Wiretapping and Electronic Surveillance Control Act, N.J.S.A. 2A:156A-1 et seq. The New Jersey Superior Court addressed a similar argument in State v. Christy,, N.J.Super., 112 N.J.Super. 48, 270 A.2d 306 (1970). We find the rationale of Christy

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Wilson v. State
343 A.2d 613 (Supreme Court of Delaware, 1975)

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Bluebook (online)
343 A.2d 613, 1975 Del. LEXIS 443, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/wilson-v-state-del-1975.