State v. ChristyState v. Christy
Defendant William A. Christy, a/k/a Wally, has been charged in three indictments with bookmaking, working for a lottery and conspiracy to violate the laws pertaining to lottery. Thirteen other persons were similarly indicted. Defendant has brought a motion to suppress certain evidence seized as a result of a search and to suppress oral communications obtained as a result of a telephone wiretap.
A sworn written application for an order to intercept telephonic communications was submitted to the Essex County assignment Judge by a lieutenant in the Essex County Prosecutor‘s office on January 29, 1970. This affidavit described a suspected gambling conspiracy being directed and coordinated by certain named individuals at a specific location at which a particular telephone was being used. On that same date a wiretap order was issued and a wiretap was conducted between January 30 and February 16, 1970. Conversations relating to this particular defendant were intercepted on February 2, 10, 11, 13 and 14, 1970. Utilizing this information, an affidavit for a search warrant was presented and a warrant was issued and executed on February 17, 1970, resulting in the seizure of evidence.
Defendant contends generally that the order authorizing the telephone wiretap was invalid and that the search warrant
I
Prior to the passage of the New Jersey Wiretapping and Electronic Surveillance Control Act in 1968, it was a misdemeanor for any person to tap a telephone line belonging to any other person or to disclose any communication thus obtained.
Berger and Katz together have sketched the boundaries within which wiretapping or eavesdropping by governmental
Defendant bottoms his attack upon the failure of the New Jersey act to measure up to the standards in Berger. In Berger an investigation following a complaint made to the district attorney‘s office implicated an attorney in a conspiracy to obtain liquor licenses by bribing New York Liquor Authority officials. The New York court sanctioned the bugging of the attorney‘s office for a 60-day period in accordance with the New York statute empowering judges to issue eavesdrop orders. As a result of leads derived from this eavesdrop, a second 60-day order was issued authorizing the placement of a recording device in the office of another alleged participant in the bribery conspiracy. Solely on the basis of evidence obtained through the concealed microphones, Berger was charged with complicity in the graft
Defendant does not argue that all of the deficiencies underscored in Berger infect the New Jersey Wiretapping and Electronic Surveillance Control Act. Thus, the New Jersey statute specifically designates certain offenses to which it is applicable (section 8). It also requires that there be a description of the communications to be seized and provides that there be a showing of particular facts or special need (sections 9, 10 and 11), including a showing that other investigative procedures are or will be unsuccessful or dangerous (section 9(c)(6)). Another constitutional defect noted by the Court in Berger was that under the New York statute an extension of the original period could be obtained with only a perfunctory showing of continuing need. This defect has been repaired in the New Jersey act by sections 9(d) and 12 which together require that before a judge can issue an order extending the eavesdropping period, he must consider the results, if any, theretofore obtained and treat the application as if it were an initial request for permission to wiretap. The New York statute failed to provide for a return on the warrant after the eavesdropping had been completed. This defect has
Although the court in Berger discusses the Fourth Amendment‘s insistence upon particularity of the “persons * * * to be seized” (388 U.S. at 56, 87 S.Ct. at 1882, 18 L.Ed.2d at 1050), it did not find any violation of this provision since the New York statute required, as does the New Jersey act, the naming of the parties whose conversations are going to be intercepted.3 Berger, however, did indicate that the New York statute was too indiscriminate because it would permit eavesdropping upon the conversations of any persons who might come within the ambit of surveillance. The New Jersey act requires that the interception of nonsubject communications be minimized or avoided (section 12(f)) and that a wiretap of public facilities or those involving privileged relationships can only be authorized upon a showing of “special need” (section 11).
The focus of defendant‘s constitutional attack is upon the duration of the wiretapping period that could be permitted under the statute. Section 9(c) (5) provides that an application for a wiretap order must contain:
A statement of the period of time for which the interception is required to be maintained; if the character of the investigation is such that the authorization for interception should not automatically terminate when the described type of communication has been first obtained, a particular statement of facts establising probable cause to believe that additional communications of the same type will occur thereafter; * * *.
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. * * *
Defendant stresses that the statute, which permits an electronic surveillance for as long as 30 days without the necessity of securing additional authorization from the court during this period, is unconstitutional. Reliance is placed on Berger‘s emphatic disapproval of the provisions of the New York statute allowing a continuous eavesdropping for 60 days, as well as the absence of a termination once the officer had obtained the incriminating conversation. Berger strongly suggests that the sole fact that an electronic surveillance could be authorized for a period of 60 days was tantamount to permitting a series of intrusions, searches and seizures upon only one initial showing of probable cause and was therefore unreasonable. It should be pointed out, however, that the New York statute was apparently applied or construed by the state court as authorizing such a blanket surveillance of 60 days.4 The Supreme Court in Berger contrasted
Also explicative of the Supreme Court‘s view that an electronic surveillance must be sharply circumscribed is its decision in Katz. Federal agents utilizing information and their own observations concluded that a defendant was making illegal use of a public telephone at particular times during the day. They installed a listening device so that the defendant‘s conversations could be overheard and recorded. Under these circumstances only the remarks of defendant himself were intercepted. The court, while suppressing the evidential fruits of this search because of the failure to obtain a warrant therefor, nevertheless stated with approval that the surveillance was “narrowly circumscribed,” a “precise intrusion,” a “very limited search and seizure.” 389 U.S. at 354, 88 S.Ct. at 513, 19 L.Ed.2d at 584.
Thus, the duration of an interception must itself be limited to what is “necessary under the circumstances.” It has been suggested that this phrase is vague and indefinite. The term “necessary” is a flexible and relative concept. It is infused with substantive content by the basic statute and imports what is convenient, useful, appropriate, suitable, proper or conducive to the end sought, as expressed in the operative enactment. Cf. Herrick v. Maine, 159 Me. 499, 196 A.2d 101, 104 (Sup. Jud. Ct. 1963). When the statute speaks in terms of necessity it conveys the directive that the wiretapping may be authorized only for that period of time which the issuing judge determines is required to uncover incriminating or guilty conversations concerning particular criminal activities and participants. This may require a greater or lesser time, depending upon all of the circumstances. But in no event may wiretapping be authorized
The provision that an interception may continue beyond the time that the described type of communication has been first obtained (section 12(f)) is not constitutionally invalid. Such a continuation is permissible only if the issuing judge is satisfied from “a particular statement of facts establishing probable cause * * * that additional communications of the same type will occur thereafter” (section 9c(5)).
Bubis v. United States, 384 F.2d 643 (9 Cir.1967), does not dictate a contrary conclusion. In that case the court determined that a wiretap involving calls made by a telephone subscriber suspected of defrauding the telephone company was continued long after adequate incriminating evidence establishing the commission of the crime had been received. The sense of the New Jersey provision is not to sanction this practice, that is, the continued interception of conversations the contents of which would merely be unduly redundant or cumulative of earlier disclosures, but rather to extend interceptions where there is a well-founded promise of fresh evidence. If an initial communication, for example, is cryptic
In sum, with respect to the duration of a permissible intercept, the New Jersey statute requires that it shall begin promptly, that is, “as soon as practicable.” It shall be terminated upon the first or earliest occurrence of any one of the following events: (1) when the described communication has been first obtained; (2) as soon as all incriminatory conversations have been collected; (3) the expiration of the time specified in the order, or (4) the expiration of 30 days. In no event can a surveillance be authorized longer than “necessary under the circumstances,” and it must be terminated “as soon as practicable.”
In conclusion, the New Jersey Wiretapping and Electronic Surveillance Control Act,
II
The defendant contends that the affidavit constituting the application for the wiretap is unconstitutional in that it fails to establish probable cause. An analysis of the statutory as well as constitutional sufficiency of the affidavit is invited.
(A)
The contents required by the statute to be included in an application are listed in section 9. Subsection (c) requires a “particular statement of the facts relied upon by the applicant.” The first item of factual information is “[t]he identity of the particular person, if known, committing the offense and whose communications are to be intercepted.”
The affidavit states that the “investigation has revealed that the individuals committing the offenses specified hereinabove and whose communications are to be intercepted are Anthony Rotunda and Frank Cerino and other unknown males engaging in a bookmaking and lottery operation.” The affidavit sets forth that a “very reliable” informant “states he observed a white male, known to him as Frank Cerino, at this location and on several occasions has answered the telephone,” and he “believes a white male named Anthony Rotunda is in charge of the operation and that he answers most of the telephone calls.” To corroborate the accuracy of this tip, the affidavit discloses a stakeout of the premises in Newark was conducted by the Essex County Prosecutor‘s office on January 7, 8 and 9, and also on January
Further particularization called for by the statute is “[t]he character and location of the particular wire communication facilities involved” and “[t]he details as to the particular offense that has been, is being, or is about to be committed” and “[t]he particular type of communication to be intercepted.”
The affidavit states that “[t]he wire communication facility involved is telephone number XXX-XXX-XXXX listed to Duval‘s Home Improvement, 480 Broadway, Newark, New Jersey.” The affiant recites that he is engaged in investigating alleged offenses of bookmaking contrary to
The request for the maximum interception of 30 days involving more than initial communications is further supported by the recitation responsive to the sixth required factual item, namely, “[a] particular statement of facts showing that other normal investigative procedures with respect to the offense have been tried and have failed or reasonably appear to be unlikely to succeed if tried or to be too dangerous to employ.” The affidavit strongly indicates that the amount of additional useful information obtainable by usual investigative procedures would be limited and that any continued visual observations by officers would abort the investigation. The affidavit recites that “any sustained surveillance is impossible, because a strange vehicle parked in the neighborhood or a strange individual on foot would be noticed and the security of the investigation would be jeopardized.” The affiant further states that “because of the magnitude of the illegal operation and the furtive and surreptitious manner in which * * * [it] is carried out,” law enforcement officials will be unable to get a detailed picture of the names of every participant in the alleged gambling ring and their degree of involvement unless
Section 11 provides that if the phone to be tapped is public, the issuing judge must make an additional finding that there is “special need” for interception of wire communications. There is some indication from the affidavit and also from oral argument that the telephone involved was public. While the statute contains no definition, “special need” is something “in addition to the matters provided in section 10 * * *,” which section encompasses the basic determination of probable cause. Several factors which justifiably could serve as the basis for a determination that a special need existed in the present case were the impracticability of continuing visual surveillance, the need for learning the daily pattern of activity within the operation and ascertaining the identities of all the participants, the fact that the telephone was pivotal in the criminal conspiracy, and most pointedly, the fact that the particular phone, though public, was installed within the confines of a private business estabilshment, apparently controlled by the criminal suspects Rotunda and Cerino and not readily available to the general public.
The affidavit submitted herein comports with all the essential statutory requisites. It recites with adequate specificity the nature of the suspected crimes, the identity of known participants, the location of the facility to be tapped, the types of conversations to be intercepted, the period of time necessary to conduct the interceptions as well as the investigatory need for obtaining more than initial conversations, and generally the necessity and special need to intercept communications over the particular facility including
(B)
Defendant mounts his most forceful attack against the affidavit upon constitutional grounds. He contends that the affidavit did not present probable cause for the issuance of a wiretap order. Defendant relies upon Aguilar v. Texas, 378 U.S. 108, 84 S.Ct. 1509, 12 L.Ed.2d 723 (1964); Spinelli v. United States, 393 U.S. 410, 89 S.Ct. 584, 21 L.Ed.2d 637 (1969) and their progeny.
Spinelli v. United States outlines the criteria which must be considered when probable cause for a search warrant is founded upon a composite of an informer‘s tip and independent investigations. Although Spinelli involved probable cause for the issuance of a search warrant rather than an order authorizing a wiretap, these standards a fortiori must guide the court in considering the potentially greater interference with Fourth Amendment rights inherent in the use of modern electronic eavesdropping techniques. Even prior to the Berger decision it had been noted that wiretap orders should issue only when the need was “extraordinary.” Note, “Eavesdropping and the Fourth Amendment,” 66 Colum. L. Rev. 355, 375 (1966). Berger itself made it clear that a higher standard of probable cause is required in wiretap cases. “The Supreme Court, 1967 Term,” 82 Harv. L. Rev. 63, 196, fn. 37.
In Berger, the court said:
The need for particularity and evidence of reliability in the showing required when judicial authorization of a search is sought is especially great in the case of eavesdropping. By its very nature eavesdropping involves an intrusion on privacy that is broad in scope. [388 U.S. at 56, 87 S.Ct. at 1882, 18 L.Ed.2d at 1050-1051].
This view was expressed by Mr. Justice Stewart in his concurring opinion (388 U.S. at 69, 87 S.Ct. at 1888, 18
Spinelli involved a prosecution under a federal statute making it a crime to travel interstate with the intent to conduct gambling activities in violation of state law. The Supreme Court held the affidavit submitted for a search warrant consisting of an informer‘s tip and data which might lend credence to it fell short of the quantum of proof necessary for establishing probable cause. This conclusion was based mainly on the omission in the affidavit of any justification for relying on the informant‘s tip and on the lack of any direct concrete proof of illegality. Spinelli elaborated upon standards expressed earlier in Aguilar v. Texas, supra. In Aguilar the affidavit for the issuance of a warrant to search for narcotics was found to be inadequate on two grounds. It did not give the “underlying circumstances” so that the magistrate could evaluate the conclusion supplied by the informant. Also, the officers did not provide any reason for crediting their faith in the reliability of the informant.
Turning to the affidavit in the present case, the affiant stated his reasons for believing that the informant‘s tip was trustworthy. Put simply, information furnished by this informant “has resulted in arrests and convictions in the past.” This statement may be contrasted to the affidavits in Aguilar and Spinelli where no basis whatsoever was given for crediting the informants’ reports. It should also be pointed out that hearsay in an affidavit is not fatal. Aguilar v. Texas, supra, 378 U.S. at 114, 84 S.Ct. at 1514, 12 L.Ed.2d at 729; Jones v. United States, 362 U.S. 257, 270-271, 80 S.Ct. 725, 735-736, 4 L.Ed.2d 697, 708 (1960). Such hearsay, however, must itself be inherently credible. State v. Kasabucki, 52 N.J. 110, 117 (1968); State v. Burrachio, 39 N.J. 272, 275 (1963). Moreover, the hearsay should not be attenuated or merely hearsay upon hearsay. Examination of the affidavit herein persuades this court that the hearsay has not been compounded and that the informant spoke from personal knowledge. The affidavit expressly sets forth that the informant told authorities he “observed a white male, known to him as Frank Cerino” answering the telephone at Duval‘s Home Improvement Company. (Emphasis added.) This assertion is buttressed by the informant‘s revelation that this telephone was being used to coordinate lottery pickups, the times and locations of which were rotated daily. Additionally, the informant expressed his belief that the entire operation was supervised by Anthony Rotunda and that he answers most of the phone calls. From the statement as to his actual observation and the specific details he revealed, the issuing judge could reasonably infer that the informant was directly familiar with the occurrences he was describing and privy to information which would not be known by persons who were not in some way closely associated with the gambling enterprise.
Spinelli further directs that the court should consider the results of any independent investigation which might tend
Another factor entitled to some weight was the record of recent arrests for gambling offenses committed by Rotunda, Cerino and Sarrecchia, who was also recently convicted of gambling. State v. Boiardo, 111 N.J. Super. 219 (App. Div. 1970). In Spinelli the court characterized the affiant‘s accusation that defendant had a general reputation as a gambler as merely “a bald and unilluminating assertion of suspicion that is entitled to no weight in appraising the magistrate‘s decision.” 393 U.S. at 414, 80 S.Ct. at 588, 21 L.Ed.2d at 643. Arguably, a record of prior arrests (as distinguished from actual convictions) might be similarly treated. Prior arrests standing alone would not be enough
This court is mindful of the line of federal cases cited by defendant, typified by the recent case of United States v. Manetti, 309 F. Supp. 174 (D. Del. 1970), which have applied the Aguilar-Spinelli tests. E.g., United States ex rel. De Negris v. Menser, 247 F. Supp. 826 (D. Conn. 1965), aff‘d 360 F.2d 199 (2 Cir.1966); Travis v. United States, 362 F.2d 477 (9 Cir.1966), cert. den. 385 U.S. 885, 87 S.Ct. 179, 17 L.Ed.2d 113 (1966); United States v. Roth, 391 F.2d 507 (7 Cir.1968); United States ex rel. Palladino v. Gable, 281 F. Supp. 69 (E.D. Pa. 1968); United States v. Delia, 283 F. Supp. 470 (E.D. Pa. 1968); United States ex rel. Rogers v. Warden of Attica State Prison, 381 F.2d 209 (2 Cir.1967); United States v. Whitlow, 339 F.2d 975 (7 Cir.1964). In Manetti the court suppressed evidence seized pursuant to search warrants relating to an alleged interstate gambling operation. The affidavit, despite its superficial thoroughness, was rejected because no reason was expressed for the conclusion that the informants were reliable and the independent investigation verified only two minor details of the informants’ reports, neither of which was deemed sufficiently substantial to rescue the affidavit.
The predilection manifested by some federal courts to apply Aguilar-Spinelli with exacting literalness and rigidity is not shared by the New Jersey Supreme Court. In State v. Kasabucki, supra, the New Jersey Supreme Court has articulated in crystal-clear terms the attitude to be followed by a trial court in dealing with affidavits in connection with applications for search warrants or on motions to suppress evidence.
* * * [T]he affidavits presented to the court on the application should not be examined with a hypertechnical eye. The approach must be a practical and commonsense one. It must be engaged in with a consciousness that bookmaking operations are carried on cautiously, furtively and deceptively, and by as many camouflages as human ingenuity can devise. * * * The consideration cannot be a grudging one. * * * [52 N.J. at 120; citation omitted]
This court is constrained to follow the bent of its highest court.
The signal difference between the judicial attitude exemplified in Manetti and the approach binding on this court in compliance with Kasabucki is not so much one of principle but essentially the weight to be accorded various statements made in the affidavit. Manetti would attribute minimal significance to an informant‘s past reliability. This court regards prior accuracy as germane to the issue of the credibility of the informant and the reliability of his current statements. Another departure concerns the worth of independently obtained corroborative evidence. Manetti did not find such evidence sufficiently persuasive to generate an inference that the accusations of an informant were true. This court feels the independent investigation herein buttressed enough of the informant‘s report to dispel doubts which may have existed as to the accuracy of his accusations. A further aspect of some significance is the experience and expertise of the officer to interpret the information he has received and to reach a reasoned and well-founded conclusion as to whether and what kind of criminal activity is transpiring. Manetti dwells on this not at all. Our court in Kasabucki, however, has stated that:
* * * [T]he judge should take into account the specialized experience and work-a-day knowledge of policemen. State v. Contursi, 44 N.J. 422, 431 (1965). The facts asserted must be tested by the practical considerations of everyday life on which reasonably prudent and experienced police officers act. Brinegar v. United States, supra, 338 U.S. 160, at p. 175, 69 S.Ct. 1302, 93 L.Ed. 1879, at p. 1890. [52 N.J. at 117.]
And elsewhere,
* * * [t]he consideration [of an affidavit of probable cause for a search warrant] cannot be a grudging one. Such an attitude would give no weight to the good faith of the police officer in seeking judicial sanction for the search * * * [and] would probably result in failure to take into account a significant factor, i.e., the officer‘s experience with bookmaking activities and the factual indications of them. [Id. at 120].5
Still another consideration moves this court. In assessing the showing of probable cause upon a motion to suppress, a trial court should not lightly second-guess the determination made by the issuing judge. State v. Kasabucki, supra; State v. Kuznitz, 105 N.J. Super. 33 (Cty. Ct. 1969). Rather, its sole function is to re-examine the record for the purpose of assuring that there were sufficient facts upon which the issuing judge could posit his finding of probable cause. Expressed in Kasabucki,
* * * Once the judge has made a finding of probable cause on the proof submitted and issued the search warrant, a reviewing court, especially a trial court, should pay substantial deference to his determination. In fact, another trial judge of equal jurisdiction should regard as binding the decision of his brother that probable cause has been sufficiently shown to support a warrant, unless there was clearly no justification for that conclusion. State v. Tanzola, 83 N.J. Super. 40, 43 (App. Div. 1964). [52 N.J. at 117].
This directive is especially apposite in a proceeding at the trial level involving the re-evaluation of an application
In summary, the affidavit which constitutes the application herein comports with the requirements of the New Jersey statute. It furnishes in sufficient detail those matters required to be particularized by the New Jersey Wiretapping and Electronic Surveillance Control Act as to specific crimes, persons, places, facilities and type of communications. It further satisfies the overriding constitutional standard that there be a strong evidential demonstration of probable cause for the issuance of the order authorizing the wiretap. The affidavit was a compound of a reliable informant‘s statements which were inherently trustworthy and accurate, together with direct knowledge obtained through independent investigations which further underscored the accuracy and credibility of the informant‘s disclosures with the addition of some fresh facts; it also furnished the expert opinion of an experienced police officer specializing in
III
Defendant further argues that the statute is unconstitutional as applied in this case. Specifically, he contends that the order is invalid because of overbreadth with respect to its provisions for the duration and termination of the wiretap.
Subsection (f) of section 12 of the New Jersey Wiretapping and Electronic Surveillance Control Act requires mandatory language be included in every order authorizing an interception. Borrowing directly from the statutory language, the order in this case stated that “[m]ore than one communication of the type described hereinabove will occur,” and fixed the following time limitation:
[S]aid interception will begin and end as soon as practicable and be conducted in such a way as to minimize or eliminate the interception of communications other than the type described hereinabove; said interception shall terminate no later than thirty days from the beginning of the interception.
It could be suggested that no specific period was fixed by the issuing judge. The order herein would appear to be a correct but ritualistic recitation of minimal statutory language. Such literal reiteration of mandatory statutory language as reflected in this order, without more, tempts
In the application permission was expressly sought to wiretap for 30 days. Particular facts were stated to support this request. The issuing judge made essential findings, as required by the statute, which were based upon the affidavit. The court determined there was probable cause to believe that “Anthony Rotunda and Frank Cerino and other unknown males are engaging over a period of time as a part of a continuing criminal activity in, and are committing, have committed, are about to commit the offenses of Bookmaking (
There was included in the order the statutory directive that the “interception will begin and end as soon as practicable.” Although required by the statute to be included in the order, the defendant argues that this provision for an earlier termination of the wiretap vested complete discretion in the executing officers as to the duration of the wiretap and was therefore too permissive. He relies heavily on People v. Botta, 60 Misc.2d 869, 304 N.Y.S.2d 362 (Cty. Ct. 1969). In that case the court issued an order permitting a wiretap of a certain phone suspected of being used for the placement of bets, for a period of approximately two weeks, with the additional proviso that the wiretap “shall terminate at such time as the conversations sought are recorded.” A motion to suppress in Botta was granted because the court felt this language of the order allowed termination of the wiretap “at the pleasure of the police officers” rather than at the direction of the court. It has been demonstrated previously that, as construed, the provision in the New Jersey statute which is incorporated in the implementing order that an “interception will end * * * as soon as practicable” requires the cessation of a wiretap when it is no longer productive of any fresh culpatory conversations. This language is that of limitation, not license. It did not therefore invest the executing officers with unfettered discretion to extend their intrusions beyond that period of time deemed necessary by the issuing judge. Rather, it constituted a restriction on
Moreover, under the particular facts in Botta the two-week period provided in the order seems to have been regarded by the court as longer than ncessary under the circumstances, in view of the limited type of criminal transaction which was suspected. This is inferentially suggested by its finding that the officers continued their wiretap for two weeks beyond the time inculpatory conversations were first obtained. This is to be contrasted with the kaleidoscopic and clandestine conspiratorial criminal activity foreshadowed in the present application. Furthermore, there is no contention made by defendant on this motion that the officers exceeded their authority in the execution of the order by continuing their interceptions long after they had reached the point of diminishing evidential returns. Compare Bubis v. United States, supra, (the court characterized as “unreasonable and unnecessary” the continuous recording of all conversations over a phone for a period of three months after the telephone company had uncovered ample evidence of crime).
Defendant further contends that the order failed to limit the daily hours within which the wiretap could be undertaken. In the affidavit it was acknowledged that persons engaged in a gambling enterprise “normally conduct their operations during the hours between 11:00 A.M. and 6:00 P.M.” Since the order did not contain any limitation to these critical hours, defendant argues that the issuing judge improperly gave a greater degree of latitude to law enforcement officers than even they had requested. The
In sum, the New Jersey Wiretapping and Electronic Surveillance Control Act is not unconstitutional as applied in this case insofar as the application of the statute is mirrored in the order authorizing the wiretap. The order provided for a fixed period of time of 30 days within which the wiretap was authorized. The affidavit constituing the application for the order disclosed the existence of a manifold and surreptitious criminal gambling operation involving many unknown participants and in which a particular telephone served as the nexus of the conspiracy. Against this background the 30-day period to conduct a wiretap of this facility was reasonably determined by the issuing judge to be “necessary under the circumstances.” The provision in the order for an earlier termination within that period of time did not loosen the time limitation imposed by the court; nor did it grant to the executing officers discretion to overreach or extend the duration of the interception as fixed by the court but rather was designed to reduce the intrusions only to those which were needed to complete the acquisition of sufficient evidence of crime.
For the reasons expressed herein, the motion to suppress evidence is denied.