aGameOfThrones
11-13-2014, 06:25 PM
billy kerr
The Justice Department says it's perfectly legal for the Federal Bureau of Investigation to cut Internet access of hotel rooms, pose as repairmen, and gather evidence of illegal activity—without a court warrant.
The government said in a court filing late Monday that the Caesars Palace occupants—who called the hotel desk to fix the problem—invited the undercover agents into their Las Vegas rooms, which is enough consent where a warrant is not needed.
"Law enforcement has long been permitted to obtain consent by posing as a confederate, business associate, or service provider. In fact, the government uses ruses every day in its undercover operations, and consent obtained by such ruses is valid unless the deceit leaves the occupant with no choice but to consent to an entry. In this case, the ruse—which involved a brief interruption of DSL service for which no Fourth Amendment intrusion was necessary, and which did not interfere with the occupants' other means of Internet access—was not coercive," federal prosecutors wrote [PDF] in defense of the tactic. This initiative preceded the arrest of an alleged leader of a well-known Chinese crime syndicate and other associates.
The authorities built, in part, a case for a search warrant [PDF] obtained after the ruse by turning off Internet access in $25,000-per-night villas shared by the eight individuals arrested. At various points, an agent of the FBI and a Nevada gaming official posed as the cable guy, secretly filming while gathering evidence this summer of what they alleged was a bookmaking ring where "hundreds of millions of dollars in illegal bets" on World Cup soccer were taking place.
Defense attorneys are demanding that the case be dismissed, claiming the case was built illegally, among other things.
"The government now admits that agents entered private rooms using the ruse of shutting off Internet access and dressing up as technicians,” defense attorney Thomas Goldstein said in an e-mail. "Based on the government’s response, agents can use similar schemes to enter any home in America without a warrant and without the slightest suspicion. We hope the Court will recognize this egregious violation of personal privacy.”
The government provided the Las Vegas judge presiding over the case with a laundry list of legal precedent in which the government employed a ruse to gain access to a dwelling. In 1966, the Supreme Court said it was OK for an agent to pretend to be a drug buyer to get inside a home. In 1980, the courts upheld an agent posing as a drug dealer's chauffeur. In 1982, an agent posed as the cousin of an informant to get inside a suspect's residence. In 1987, government agents posing as real estate investors accessed a suspect's bedroom and closet. In 1989, an undercover officer posed as a UPS delivery man to get inside a home suspected of manufacturing methamphetamine.
However, agents disguised as gas company or water district workers asking for permission to enter to check for leaks were deemed illegal searches because they were given "involuntary" consent to enter the premises because the defendants were led to believe there was a life-threatening emergency.
"This case is easily distinguishable from those in which courts have held that a ruse effectively took away the defendant’s choice to refuse entry. Defendants here simply cannot argue that they believed they had no choice but to allow Caesars' technicians to enter their villas: no essential service was disrupted, and no emergency was presented," the government wrote.
http://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2014/11/fbi-defends-ruse-of-undercover-agents-posing-as-hotels-cable-guys/
The Justice Department says it's perfectly legal for the Federal Bureau of Investigation to cut Internet access of hotel rooms, pose as repairmen, and gather evidence of illegal activity—without a court warrant.
The government said in a court filing late Monday that the Caesars Palace occupants—who called the hotel desk to fix the problem—invited the undercover agents into their Las Vegas rooms, which is enough consent where a warrant is not needed.
"Law enforcement has long been permitted to obtain consent by posing as a confederate, business associate, or service provider. In fact, the government uses ruses every day in its undercover operations, and consent obtained by such ruses is valid unless the deceit leaves the occupant with no choice but to consent to an entry. In this case, the ruse—which involved a brief interruption of DSL service for which no Fourth Amendment intrusion was necessary, and which did not interfere with the occupants' other means of Internet access—was not coercive," federal prosecutors wrote [PDF] in defense of the tactic. This initiative preceded the arrest of an alleged leader of a well-known Chinese crime syndicate and other associates.
The authorities built, in part, a case for a search warrant [PDF] obtained after the ruse by turning off Internet access in $25,000-per-night villas shared by the eight individuals arrested. At various points, an agent of the FBI and a Nevada gaming official posed as the cable guy, secretly filming while gathering evidence this summer of what they alleged was a bookmaking ring where "hundreds of millions of dollars in illegal bets" on World Cup soccer were taking place.
Defense attorneys are demanding that the case be dismissed, claiming the case was built illegally, among other things.
"The government now admits that agents entered private rooms using the ruse of shutting off Internet access and dressing up as technicians,” defense attorney Thomas Goldstein said in an e-mail. "Based on the government’s response, agents can use similar schemes to enter any home in America without a warrant and without the slightest suspicion. We hope the Court will recognize this egregious violation of personal privacy.”
The government provided the Las Vegas judge presiding over the case with a laundry list of legal precedent in which the government employed a ruse to gain access to a dwelling. In 1966, the Supreme Court said it was OK for an agent to pretend to be a drug buyer to get inside a home. In 1980, the courts upheld an agent posing as a drug dealer's chauffeur. In 1982, an agent posed as the cousin of an informant to get inside a suspect's residence. In 1987, government agents posing as real estate investors accessed a suspect's bedroom and closet. In 1989, an undercover officer posed as a UPS delivery man to get inside a home suspected of manufacturing methamphetamine.
However, agents disguised as gas company or water district workers asking for permission to enter to check for leaks were deemed illegal searches because they were given "involuntary" consent to enter the premises because the defendants were led to believe there was a life-threatening emergency.
"This case is easily distinguishable from those in which courts have held that a ruse effectively took away the defendant’s choice to refuse entry. Defendants here simply cannot argue that they believed they had no choice but to allow Caesars' technicians to enter their villas: no essential service was disrupted, and no emergency was presented," the government wrote.
http://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2014/11/fbi-defends-ruse-of-undercover-agents-posing-as-hotels-cable-guys/