United States v. Carlos Rivera

MEMORANDUM

In consolidated appeals, Carlos Rivera, Raul Prieto, and Jessica Medina appeal their jury convictions arising out of activities connected with the Black Angels, a Mexican Mafia-affiliated street gang operating in Ontario, California. We affirm.

Under 18 U.S.C. § 2518 (l)(c), a wiretap affidavit must include “a full and complete statement as to whether or not other investigative procedures have been tried and failed or why they reasonably appear to be unlikely to succeed if tried or to be too dangerous.” While “[e]ach wiretap application, standing alone, must satisfy the necessity requirement,” United States v. Carneiro, 861 F.2d 1171, 1176 (9th Cir.1988) (emphasis omitted), the nature of the conspiracy with which the individual is allegedly involved and prior investigative work may inform the determination of whether each individual investigation was adequate. See United States v. Garcia-Villalba, 585 F.3d 1223, 1229-30 (9th Cir.2009); United States v. Rivera, 527 F.3d 891, 898, 903 (9th Cir.2008). The affidavit for Target Telephone 9 provided details regarding the range of traditional investigative techniques that had already been used in in vestigating other members…