United States v. FallsUnited States v. Falls
Eric Falls, Gregory Hedgewood, Gerald Bailey, and Anthony Johnson (the defendants) each entered conditional pleas of guilty to multiple drug-related charges. The defendants appeal the district court’s
I. Background
On January 13, 1993, during the course of a criminal investigation of suspected drug trafficking activity by the defendants, th'e government applied to the Honorable Charles R. Wolle, Chief Judge, United States District Court for the Southern District of Iowa, for an order authorizing the government to intercept (i.e., “bug”) oral communications in an apartment at 4108 Hubbell Ave-
The affidavit named Gregory Hedgewood, Eric Falls, Timothy Earl Betts, Thelma Sarah Wyant, and Scott Turner as individuals whose oral and nonverbal communications would be intercepted. The affidavit also referred to a cooperating witness who was identified as C/W-l to mask the witness’s identity. The affidavit stated that C/W-l was a cocaine trafficker and that he/she had been inside the apartment to purchase cocaine but that he/she was not privy to the defendants’ sources, the extent of the operation, or how the organization distributed the proceeds. The affidavit also stated that C/W-l’s access to the apartment was limited out of fear for his/her personal safety. C/W-1 was actually Thelma Sarah Wyant who was named in the affidavit as one of the suspects, but neither the affidavit nor the affiant informed Chief Judge Wolle of this fact. The district court granted both applications, and from January 13 through January 29, 1993, the government engaged in electronic oral surveillance and silent video surveillance of the apartment. On January 29, based in part upon information gathered during the surveillance, the government sought and obtained a search warrant for the premises. During the search, authorities seized powder cocaine, cocaine base, and a .45 caliber semiautomatic pistol.
In June 1993, the grand jury returned a superseding indictment charging the defendants with conspiracy to distribute cocaine, engaging in a continuing criminal enterprise, engaging in financial transactions with the proceeds of drug distribution, use of a communication facility to facilitate the distribution of cocaine or cocaine base, interstate travel to distribute cocaine base, distribution of cocaine base, possession of cocaine base with intent to distribute, and carrying a firearm during a drug trafficking crime. The defendants entered pleas of not guilty at arraignment and filed pretrial motions.
The defendants moved to suppress the evidence obtained through the oral and silent video surveillance. The defendants asserted that the district court did not have the power to authorize silent video surveillance. They also argued that the government intentionally misled the district court through false information in the affidavit, that there was no need for electronic surveillance because normal investigative procedures would have been sufficient, and that the length of the surveillance exceeded the term authorized in the orders. The defendants moved to quash the search warrant, contending that it was unlawful as fruit of the poisonous tree because it was based upon information obtained through the allegedly illegal surveillance.
The district court, Judge Vietor presiding, held a hearing on the pretrial motions. Special Agent Donlan, the sole witness, testified concerning the accuracy of the information in his affidavit and the need for the oral and video surveillance. The district court overruled the motion to suppress and the motion to quash the search warrant, specifically finding that “[n]o part of [the affidavit] constituted a deliberate false statement.” (Mot. to Suppress Tr. at 82.) The defendants then entered pleas of guilty conditioned on their right to appeal the adverse rulings on their pretrial motions. The district court sentenced Eric Falls to 300 months of imprisonment, Gregory Hedgewood received 420 months of imprisonment, and Gerald Bailey received 384 months of imprisonment, each to be followed by a 10-year term of supervised release. Anthony Johnson was sentenced to 270 months of imprisonment to be followed by 5 years of supervised release. The defendants appeal the adverse rulings on their motion to suppress and motion to quash the warrant.
II. Discussion
The defendants contend that the district court erred by denying their motion to suppress and motion to quash, arguing: (1) that the district court had no power to authorize silent video surveillance; (2) that Special
A.
The defendants first argue that
The Fourth Amendment protects persons and their houses from unreasonable searches and seizures.
A court of general jurisdiction has inherent power to issue a search warrant within the limits set forth in the Fourth Amendment. See United States v. Torres,
to search for and seize any (1) property that constitutes evidence of the commission of a criminal offense; or (2) contraband, the fruits of crime, or things otherwise criminally possessed; or (3) property designed or intended for use or which is or has been used as the means of committing a criminal offense; or (4) person for whose arrest there is probable cause, or who is unlawfully restrained.
Additionally, several of our sister circuits have addressed the issue before us. Based in large part upon the reasoning of New York Telephone, these circuits have unanimously held that
The defendants contend that reliance upon New York Telephone for the proposition that silent video surveillance is authorized by
The defendants also argue that interpreting
Title I prohibits the interception of oral, wire, or electronic communications (as defined in
B.
The defendants’ next three arguments are concerned with whether the district court’s authorization order in this case satisfied the limitations imposed by the Fourth Amendment. An order authorizing the interception of oral communications is governed by
It is clear that silent video surveillance, like the interception of wire, oral, or electronic communications under Title I, results in a very serious, some say Orwellian, invasion of privacy. See Torres,
(1) the judge issuing the warrant must find 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) ; (2) the warrant must contain “a particular description of the type of [activity] sought to be [videotaped], and a statement of the particular offense to which it relates,”id. § 2518(4)(c) ; (3) the warrant must not allow the period of [surveillance] to be “longer than is necessary to achieve the objective of the authorization,[]or in any event longer than thirty days” (though extensions are possible)id. § 2518(5) ; and (4) the warrant must require that the [surveillance] “be conducted in such a way as to minimize the [videotaping] of [activity] not otherwise subject to [surveillance] ...” id.
Koyomejian,
In this case, while silent video surveillance was applied for and authorized under
We adopt the same standard of review for an application to engage in nonaudio video surveillance as we apply to wiretap applications, which is the same standard that we apply to conventional warrants. United States v. Leisure,
In this case, the unidentified C/W-l was in fact Thelma Wyant, named in the affidavit as a person who was continuing to commit violations. The government did not disclose to Chief Judge Wolle, either in the affidavit or orally, the fact that Wyant actually was the confidential witness and not a suspect. The affidavit stated and Donlan testified at the suppression hearing that he masked C/W-l’s identity out of concern for her future safety because the defendants were known to be very dangerous.
The affidavit also stated that C/W-l’s access to the apartment “is extremely limited” and “[i]t is highly unlikely in the future that C/W-l will be able to gain access to” the apartment. (Affidavit at 26, ¶ 50.) The defendants contend that this misled the issuing judge concerning the possible success of normal investigative procedures because the affidavit failed to disclose that Wyant, the C/W-1, had had a sexual relationship with Hedge-wood, that she traveled with him to Las Vegas in December 1992, and that she paid the rent on the apartment sought to be surv-eilled with money provided by the defendants. Donlan testified that he was aware that Wyant had in the past a romantic relationship with Hedgewood but that her relationship with the others was purely business and was not sufficient to allow her access to the type of information that the government needed without placing Wyant in danger. The affidavit explained that although C/W-l had been able to gather information from Hedgewood, she was unable to obtain information about all of the other members of the organization, their source of cocaine, the scope of the operation, or their method of distributing proceeds. Donlan testified that Wyant told him that she only went to the apartment for the purpose of purchasing cocaine or paying off an existing drug debt. Donlan also testified that the FBI, having already spent $9,000 through Wyant, would not authorize further expenditures for her to purchase drugs, and Wyant feared that she would draw suspicion if she continued to go to the apartment without purchasing cocaine or repaying her debt.
The district court found at the suppression hearing that “[n]o part of [the affidavit] constituted a deliberate false statement,” and that the affidavit was not made with reckless indifference to the truth. (Mot. to Suppress Tr. at 82-83.) The district court found that one statement in the affidavit was incorrect — that Thelma Wyant was continuing to commit the violations when in fact she was not — but concluded that this statement “doesn’t diminish, in the least, the substantive qualitative value of the rest of the affidavit.” (Id. at 85.) The court also found that
We have carefully reviewed the record, including reading the entire transcript of the suppression hearing, and conclude that the district court’s findings are not clearly erroneous. The affidavit masked Wyant’s identity to avoid public disclosure out of a concern for her safety, not "with an intent to mislead the issuing judge on a material fact, and the one incorrect statement was not material to the issuing judge’s finding of probable cause. Further, the issuing judge was not misled on the question of whether normal investigative procedures were adequate.
While we are satisfied that the government did not intentionally mislead the issuing judge or falsify material facts, we expressly disapprove of the government’s failure to inform the issuing judge that C/W-1 was Thelma Wyant. See United States v. Strini
C.
The defendants argue that the district court erred in finding that normal investigative methods were inadequate. This is another finding of fact subject to the clearly erroneous standard. United States v. Davis,
D.
We reject the defendants’ argument that the length of the oral and silent video surveillance exceeded the time authorized by the orders. They contend that the orders authorized surveillance for only 10 days, but the orders clearly state that the authorization may last up to 30 days and that the 30-day period begins “from the earlier of the day on which investigative or law enforcement officers first begin to conduct an interception under this Order or ten (10) days from the date this Order is entered, whichever is earlier.” (Order Authorizing Interception of Visual Non-verbal Conduct, at 4, Jan. 13, 1993; Order Authorizing Interception of Oral Communications, at 5, Jan. 13, 1993.) The surveillance continued from January 13 through January 29, 1993. This period does not exceed the 30 days authorized for surveillance. The defendants’ argument is based upon a faulty reading of the order. The district court did not err in denying the defendants’ motion to suppress.
E.
The defendants’ motion to quash the search warrant was premised upon their contention that the surveillance authorized in this case was unlawful. Having concluded that the oral and silent video surveillance was lawful, the motion to quash the search warrant necessarily fails. The district court did not err in denying the motion to quash the search warrant.
III. Conclusion
To summarize, we conclude that district courts have the power to authorize silent video surveillance in situations that satisfy the Fourth Amendment. In this case, the affidavit of Special Agent Donlan did not mislead the issuing judge, the issuing judge’s determination that normal investigative procedures were inadequate was not clearly erroneous, and the surveillance did not exceed 30 days. Therefore, the district court did not err in denying the defendants’ motion to suppress. Furthermore, because the surveillance was lawful, the defendants’ motion to quash the search warrant was properly denied. Accordingly, we affirm the judgment of the district court.
Notes
. The Honorable Harold D. Vietor, United States District Judge for the Southern District of Iowa.
. "The term 'property' is used in this rale to include documents, books, papers and any other tangible objects.”
. The defendants’ brief states that "[i]t is undisputed that neither Title I nor FISA authorize domestic video surveillance.” (Appellants’ Br. at 7.)
. Agent Donlan testified that a past investigation was compromised because the Des Moines Register published the identity of an informant on the front page of the paper after the affidavit which was used for a search warrant application and which named the informant had been made public. (Mot. to Suppress Tr. at 60-61.)
. The defendants cite United States v. Simpson,
. We find it particularly distressing to note that the Assistant United States Attorney, Mr. Kayser, who presented the instant applications to Chief Judge Wolle, knowing the masking to have been done, is the same Assistant United States Attorney who was counsel for the government in Strini and who knew or should have known of this court’s prior criticism of this tactic. (See Mot. to Suppress Tr. at 83-84.)