The Oklahoma Court of Criminal Appeals has reversed a district court decision to suppress evidence obtained from intercepting wireless cell phone calls. In a unanimous decision, the court ruled state law enforcement acted properly under state and federal guidelines, and therefore, the communication interceptions were legal.
The court stated while there is confusion because the state Legislature did not pass a law dealing with wireless communications taps until this year, law enforcement action should not be held so literally in this area.
“Given the important interrelationship of federal and state statutes in the area of communications privacy and wiretapping, a ‘plain and ordinary meaning’ approach to the state statutory language ignores some important aspects of federalism that finally dictate the result in this appeal,” the court wrote. “Resolution of the issue before us ultimately is governed not by legislative history or statutory interpretation, but by the principle of supremacy of federal law.”
ARGUMENT
Congress passed laws in 1986 dealing with the legal taps of wireless communication. The law instructed states to pass their own laws of conformity with Congress within two years.
The case involves agents of the Oklahoma Bureau of Narcotics and Dangerous Drugs Control monitoring specific cellular phone numbers in a drug investigation. A warrant was obtained to wiretap the calls, allowing agents to locate the source of the calls and seize 85 pounds of marijuana, firearms and cash.
Oklahoma County District Judge Twyla Mason Gray suppressed the evidence on the basis the cell phone was not a wire communication and, therefore, did not full under federal wiretapping laws. -Scott Cooper
This article appears in Dec 19-25, 2007.