People v. Rodriguez y PazPeople v. Rodriguez y Paz
Thе principal issue raised on this appeal is whether an Acting Supreme Court Justice designated to sit in a Special Narcotics Part of Supreme Court located in one judicial district of the City of New York has the authority to issue an eavesdropping warrant which is to be executed in another judicial district in that city. We hold that hе does.
In December of 1979, New York City police officials received information indicating that a large narcotics distribution ring was operating throughout New York City. The leader of this ring was reported to be one of the defendants herein, Pedro Luis Rodriguez y Paz. This information triggered an intensive investigation aimed at arresting and proseсuting Rodriguez y Paz and his agents, accomplices and suppliers. During the course of the investigation, a substantial amount of evidence was gathered which corroborated the information received earlier and established probable cause to believe that Rodriguez y Paz and his accomplices were using an aрartment in Queens, New York, and the telephone listed to Estanislao Diaz located therein to conduct their drug distributing operations. Based on this information, the New York County District Attorney applied to Acting Supreme Court Justice George Roberts, then sitting by designation in a Special Narcotics Part of Supreme Court, New York County, for an order authorizing electronic surveillance and recording of drug-related conversations over that telephone between Rodriguez y Paz and his coconspirators. On May 12, 1980, Justice Roberts issued an eavesdropping warrant authorizing the recording of those conversations. The evidence gathered pursuant to the eavesdropping warrant revealed that Rodriguez y Paz was indeed the kingpin in a large-scale drug enterprise operating throughout the City of New York.
Following the expiration of the eavesdropping warrant on June 11, 1980, Justice Roberts issued six search warrants, based primarily on evidence obtained pursuant to the eavesdropping warrant, authorizing the search of Rod
On June 22, 1980, defendants Gonzalez and Martinez were indicted for conspiracy in the second degree for their participation in the illegal narcotics enterprise. On June 26, 1980, Rodriguez y Paz was chаrged, in two separate indictments, with a variety of drug-related and weapons offenses.
Following his arrest and arraignment on the indictments, Rodriguez y Paz moved to controvert the eavesdropping warrant and suppress evidence derived therefrom. Shortly thereafter, both Gonzalez and Martinez joined in that motion. The defendants did not contest the sufficiency of the facts to establish probable cause to issue the warrant; nor did they object to the way the electronic surveillance was conducted. Instead, they contended that the warrant was jurisdictionally invalid because Justice Roberts, sitting in a Special Narcotics Part of Supreme Court in the First Judicial District, issued an eavesdropping warrant to be executed in the Eleventh Judicial District, in violation of CPL 700.05 (subd 4) which permits an eavesdropping warrant to be issued by “any justice of the supreme court of the judicial district in which the eavesdropping warrant is to be executed”.
In a well-reasoned opinion, Justice Shirley Levitt an deniеd defendants’ motions, holding that Justice Roberts was authorized to issue the warrant and that “such authority was necessary for the ‘coordinated prosecution’ of narcotics offenses in the Special Narcotics Parts of the Supreme Court which were specifically established in response to the finding by our Legislature that an ‘emergency of grave dimensions exists in narcotics law enforcement’ in New York City.” (
On this appeal, dеfendants maintain that Justice Roberts lacked authority to issue an eavesdropping warrant which was to be executed outside the “judicial district” in which he was sitting and that the evidence seized pursuant thereto should be suppressed. Additionally, defendants argue, for the first time, that Justice Roberts could not lawfully be assigned to sit as a Justice оf the Special Narcotics Court.
Defendants’ contention that the eavesdropping warrant was jurisdictionally defective is based upon a strict interpretation of CPL 700.05 (subd 4). CPL 700.10 (subd 1) provides that a “justice” may issue an eavesdropping warrant
While it is true, as defendants assert, that eavesdropping statutes are usually given a strict construction (see People v Washington,
Implicit in this mandate is a recognition that the illegal narcotics trade in New York City is no longer a regional problem confined to individually delineated judicial districts, but, rather, one that extends into all parts of the city. In order to effeсtively deal with this city-wide problem, the Legislature removed the “traditional jurisdictional boundaries” and combined all five counties of New York City into a single unit for purposes of prosecuting narcotics indictments. (People v Taylor,
In light of the Legislature’s findings that a crisis exists in New York City narcotics law enforcement and its intent that the problem be attacked through “coordinated prosecution” and “centralized direction”, we cannot agree with defendants’ position that issuance of a warrant to be executed in another district was not authorized. We hold, therefore, that a “judicial district”, as that term is used in CPL 700.05 (subd 4) and insofar as the investigation of drug-related offenses is concerned, is intended to be liberally construed to include all five counties of New York City so that the Special Narcotics Courts can more effectively
The direction we take today is not new. In People v Taylor (
Similarly, we do not believe that section 6 of article VI has any bearing on determining the extent of a Special Narcotics Court Judge’s authority to issue drug-related eavesdropping warrants. Nor is there any authority indicating that the Legislature, in light of its enactment of article 5-B of the Judiciary Law, intends for us to construe the term “judicial district”, as it is used in CPL 700.05 (subd 4), in accordance with the delineation of districts contained in section 6 of article VI. While that may very well have been the Legislature’s intent when CPL 700.05 (subd 4) was first enacted, it should be clear that the subsequent enactment of article 5-B of the Judiciary Law manifests a different intent — i.e., that Special Narcotics Court Judges have city-wide jurisdiction in authorizing the interception of conversations related to the illegal sale and distribution of narcotics throughout New York City. Such intent is implicit in the Legislature’s pronouncement that the crisis in narcotics law enforcement in New York City “transcends the traditional jurisdictional boundaries of the counties wholly contained within” that city and the Legislature’s command that in order to properly address this
A view of the over-all legislative scheme as set forth in article 5-B of the Judiciary Law indicates that the need for “centralized direction” was intended to apply to the investigative as well as prosecutive and postconviction stages of New York City narcotics law enforcement. Pаrticularly noteworthy is subdivision (iii) of section 177-d, which authorizes the Assistant District Attorney in charge of the Special Narcotics Courts to impanel a Grand Jury to investigate alleged commissions of drug-related offenses “in any county wholly contained in a city having a population of one million or more”. Thus, although not specifically addrеssing the use of eavesdropping warrants as an investigatory tool, it seems clear that the Legislature has manifested a general intent that statutes regulating the investigatory phase of narcotics law enforcement, including CPL 700.05 (subd 4), be liberally construed to effectuate the purposes underlying article 5-B of the Judiciary Law. Accоrdingly, we hold that the “judicial district” in which eavesdropping warrants issued by Special Narcotics Court Judges must be executed encompasses the five counties of New York City.
Defendants argue, however, that the construction which we give CPL 700.05 (subd 4) today violates the purpose behind restricting who may issue eavesdropping warrants and where such warrants may be executed — i.e., to further more responsible judicial participation in the use of electronic surveillance. (See Senate Report No. 1097, US Code Cong & Admin News, 1968, 90th Cong, p 2179.) In our view, such responsible judicial participation is guaranteed by requiring the issuing Judge to be familiar with the conditions in the area where the warrant is to be issued and executed. It cannot be seriously disputed that Special Narcotics Court Judges are sufficiently familiar with conditions existing throughout New York City to satisfy this requirement. Indeed, the Legislature itself has made it abundantly clear that “crisis” conditions exist throughout New York City with respect to the enforcement of narcotics laws. Furthermore, the Judges sitting on the Special Narcotics Courts hear and determine only narcotics indict
Defendants, citing United States v Giordano (
In sharp contrast, our Legislature, in enacting artiсle 5-B of the Judiciary Law, recognized that the drug problem in New York City is a city-wide problem knowing no traditional jurisdictional boundaries and, in our view, intended CPL 700.05 (subd 4) to be liberally construed to allow Justices sitting on New York City’s Special Narcotics Courts to have jurisdiction over all narcotics-related investigations and prosecutions throughout all five New York City counties and accordingly to have authority to issue eavesdropping warrants affecting any of those counties. Defendants’ reliance on Giordano and Chavez is, therefore, misplaced.
Defendants’ remaining contention, that Justice Roberts could not lawfully be assigned to sit on the Special Narcotics Court, although not raised at the suppression heаring, is a question of law which could not have been
Defendаnts, nevertheless, insist that authorizing Justice Roberts to issue eavesdropping warrants which are to be executed outside the First Judicial District violates article VI (§ 26, subd g) because, as a result of such authority, he must be deemed to be sitting outside the judicial department of his residence. The short answer to this argument is that our Constitution specificаlly provides that once a Justice is properly assigned in accordance with subdivision g of section 26, as Justice Roberts was, he acquires all of “the powers, duties and jurisdiction of a judge or justice of the court to which assigned.” (Art VI, § 26, subd k.) Since Special Narcotics Court Judges have, as we interpret CPL 700.05 (subd 4) in light of article 5-B of the Judiciary Lаw, been given city-wide jurisdiction to authorize the interception of drug-related conversations, Justice Roberts’ assignment fully complied with both subdivisions g and k of section 26 of article VI of the New York Constitution.
Accordingly, the orders of the Appellate Division should be affirmed.
Chief Judge Cooke and Judges Jones, Wachtler, Fuchsberg, Meyer and Simons concur.
In each case: Order affirmed.
Notes
. CPL 700.10 (subd 1) provides in full that: “Under circumstances prescribed in this article, a justice may issue an eavesdropping warrant upon ex parte application of an applicant who is authorized by law to investigate, prosecute or participate in the prosecution of the particular designated offense which is the subject of the application.”
. CPL 700.05 (subd 4) provides in full that: “ ‘Justice,’ except as otherwise provided herein, means any justice of an appellate division of the judicial department in which the eavesdropping warrant is to be executed, or any justice of the supreme court of the judicial district in which the eavesdropping warrant is to be executed, or any county court judge of the county in which the eavesdropping warrant is to be executed.”