“Plain Hearing” Rule Used to Make Evidence Admissible

“Plain Hearing” Rule Used to Make Prosecutors “may” be able to admit evidence from a legal wiretap that includes conversations of people targeted conspiracy not included in the Admissible

 United States v. Carey, 2016 BL 291176, 9th Cir., No. 14-50222, 9/7/16.

The Seventh Circuit found that evidence collected from an untargeted person under a legal wiretap may be admissible under a “plain hearing” rule. The court found that the plain hearing rule was a logical corollary to the “plain-view” rule that allows police to collect evidence from things in plain sight during a legal search. The court based its decision on dicta from an earlier case where the court suggested that the plain hearing rule “is just the plain view doctrine translated from the visual to the oral dimension.”

The court cautioned, however, that this rule is not without limits. In one such example, the court noted that the police cannot collect incriminating information from people once they realize the audio being captured is unrelated to the wiretap warrant.

http://www.bloomberglaw.com/public/document/United_States_v_Carey_No_1450222_2016_BL_291176_9th_Cir_Sept_07_2.