United States v. Umberto Jose Chavez

Chavez and thirteen others were indicted on May 6, 1971, on a charge that they had conspired to import and distribute heroin in violation of 21 U.S.C. §§ 173 and 174 as those sections then read. Much of the evidence upon which the charge is based was obtained by means of a wiretap of Chavez’s telephone, and the government appeals from an order suppressing this evidence. We reverse.

This is the second such appeal in this case. On the first appeal, we affirmed an order of the district court which suppressed the same evidence on the ground that there had not been a proper authorization by the Attorney General of the application to the district judge for an order permitting the tap. United States v. Chavez, 9 Cir., 1973, 478 F.2d 512 . The Supreme Court, however, reversed and remanded as to the wiretap here in question. United States v. Chavez, 1974, 416 U.S. 562 , 94 S.Ct. 1849 , 40 L.Ed.2d 380 . On remand, the district court considered a second ground for suppressing the evidence, not reached in its first order, namely, failure to comply with the statutory command, which was also embodied in the court’s order, to minimize interception of calls.

Section 2518(5) of Title 18…