Criminal Procedure-Government May Not Introduce Evidence Derived from Illegal Private Wiretaps Despite Its “Clean Hands”-United States v. Crabtree, 565 F.3d 887 (4th Cir. 2009)

Congress strictly regulates telephone surveillance—or “wiretapping”—through the comprehensive Title III of the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets Act of 1968 (Title III).  One of Title III’s primary enforcement mechanisms is § 2515, an exclusionary rule that calls for suppression of any evidence derived from unauthorized wiretaps.  In United States v. Crabtree, the United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit considered whether § 2515 prohibits the government from introducing evidence derived from illegal private wiretaps in a criminal proceeding.  The court held that § 2515 requires suppression of all illegally intercepted communications, even where the government was not the interceptor but rather a mere passive recipient of privately intercepted communications. . .