State v. Bruce
Annotate this CaseThis case began when the attorney general signed a delegation of authority to the assistant attorney general. The assistant attorney general then appeared before the district court judge pursuant to Kan. Stat. Ann. 75-710 and applied for an order authorizing interception of wire communications and electronic communications pursuant to Kan. Stat. Ann. 22-2516. The judge authorized the requested interception. The investigation led to the prosecution of Defendant. Upon a motion by Defendant, the district court suppressed the evidence derived from the wiretap, holding that the application and order authorizing interception were fatally defective and the evidence thereby was unlawfully intercepted. The Supreme Court affirmed, holding (1) section 75-710 when read in conjunction with Kan. Stat. Ann. 22-2515(a)(1)-(2) to permit the attorney general to delegate the power to apply for a wiretap order to an assistant attorney general was more permissive than 18 U.S.C. 2616(2) and thus preempted; and (2) a wiretap order obtained under such a delegation violates a central provision of the federal statutory scheme, and the evidence obtained or derived from the wiretap must be suppressed.
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