State v. Deric S. McGuire

Syllabus

In these consolidated cases, the State of Rhode Island appealed from a Superior Court order granting the defendants' motion to suppress all wire, electronic, and oral communications obtained through the use of wiretaps and any subsequently obtained evidence. The state argued on appeal that the trial justice erred in finding that an associate justice of the Superior Court had no authority to issue the wiretap orders and that, even if the associate justice was without statutory authority, the trial justice erred in concluding that suppression of the evidence derived from those orders was warranted. The Supreme Court concluded that G.L. 1956 § 8-3-4 was inapplicable to cases involving the interception of wire, electronic, and oral communications, which are strictly governed by the wiretap act, chapter 5.1 of title 12 of the general laws, setting forth who has the authority to receive wiretap applications and issue these orders. Therefore, the Supreme Court determined that, in accordance with the wiretap act, only the presiding justice, or the senior associate justice of the Superior Court when the presiding justice deems it necessary to disqualify himself or herself from entering the wiretap orders, may receive applications or issue wiretap orders. The Supreme Court concluded that the wiretap orders violated the wiretap act, resulting in the unlawful interception of communications that suppression of the evidence was the appropriate remedy and that the good-faith exception did not apply. Accordingly, the Supreme Court affirmed the order of the Superior Court granting the motion to suppress.