United States v. Jorge Oliva

Title III of the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets Act of 1968, as amended, 18 U.S.C. §§ 2510-2522 , governs interception of wire, oral and electronic communications. Jorge Ortiz Oliva appeals the district court’s denial of his motion to suppress evidence obtained from a series of electronic surveillance orders authorizing interception of communications over cellular phones associated with him and his alleged co-conspirators. Oliva contends these orders by their terms authorized more than “standard” intercepts, permitting more intrusive “roving” intercepts without meeting the statutory prerequisites of § 2518(H). Specifically, he contends that the orders in essence authorized the government to transform the cellular phones into roving electronic bugs through use of sophisticated eavesdropping technology. We agree that if the government seeks authorization for the use of new technology to convert cellular phones into “roving bugs,” it must specifically request that authority, the court must scrutinize the need for such surveillance and the authorization orders must be clear and unambiguous. In this case, however, we credit the district court’s finding that the orders…