United States v. Terrell, No. 17-2929 (8th Cir. 2019)
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The Eighth Circuit affirmed the district court's denial of defendant's motion to suppress evidence from wiretaps after he pleaded guilty to drug-related offenses. The court held that the district court did not err in granting the wiretap applications without preauthorization from the Nebraska Attorney General. The court also held that, under Nebraska law, wiretap applications do not need to be sworn under oath before submission to the Nebraska Attorney General and there was no requirement that wiretap applications be submitted to the Attorney General by the principal county attorney.
The court also held that the district court did not err in finding probable cause to wiretap defendant's co-conspirators; the district court did not err in finding the probable-cause information was not stale, because the criminal activity was continuous and ongoing; and the district court did not err in finding the wiretaps were necessary, and defendant had actual notice of the wiretaps within the 90-day period set out in Nebraska law.
Court Description: Benton, Author, with Wollman and Arnold, Circuit Judges] Criminal case - Criminal law. Under Nebraska law, state court-issued wiretaps did not have to pre-authorized by the state attorney general; nor did the wiretap applications have to be sworn under oath before submission to the attorney general; there is no requirement that the principal county attorney submit the application; wiretap applications established probable cause to wiretap defendant's co-conspirators; the criminal activity was continuous and ongoing and the district court did not err in finding the probable-cause information was not stale; the district court did not err in finding the wiretaps were necessary; defendant had actual notice of the wiretaps within the 90-day period set out in Nebraska law.
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