SAN FRANCISCO – Defense lawyers have lost out on their bid to suppress wide swaths of evidence federal agents gained after planting recording devices outside the San Mateo County courthouse in 2009 and 2010.
U.S. District Judge Charles Breyer of the Northern District of California last year barred federal prosecutors from introducing more than 200 hours of recordings captured without a warrant as part of an investigation into bid-rigging at real estate auctions held outside the Redwood City building. But in a 13-page decision issued Tuesday, Breyer found defense lawyers failed to show the recordings netted any evidence investigators couldn’t have gotten by legal means. “That Agent X unlawfully obtained evidence on Date Y regarding Property Z does not put all evidence lawfully obtained by Agent X, on Date Y, or regarding Property Z off-limits for all time,” Breyer wrote. “It puts the offending evidence off-limits, along with other evidence discovered as a proximate result of the violation, but that’s it.”
This content has been archived. It is available through our partners, LexisNexis® and Bloomberg Law.
To view this content, please continue to their sites.
Not a Lexis Subscriber?
Subscribe Now
Not a Bloomberg Law Subscriber?
Subscribe Now
LexisNexis® and Bloomberg Law are third party online distributors of the broad collection of current and archived versions of ALM's legal news publications. LexisNexis® and Bloomberg Law customers are able to access and use ALM's content, including content from the National Law Journal, The American Lawyer, Legaltech News, The New York Law Journal, and Corporate Counsel, as well as other sources of legal information.
For questions call 1-877-256-2472 or contact us at [email protected]
