United States v. Richard Kay Harpel, 493 F.2d 346, 10th Cir. (1974)
United States v. Richard Kay Harpel, 493 F.2d 346, 10th Cir. (1974)
2d 346
conversation. Nor was any evidence introduced that a wire tap had been
authorized for any of the extension telephones on the date in question.
Harpel contends that there was no interception of an oral communication
within the meaning of the applicable statute because the conversation was
not conducted with the expectation of privacy which 'oral communication'
as defined under 18 U.S.C. 2510(2)2 requires. In this respect he attaches
particular significance to the apparent failure of Corporal Koncilja to press
an available exclusionary button on his receiver which would have
precluded the overhearing of the conversation by anyone else in the
Pueblo Police Department. We consider it unnecessary to examine this
contention in view of the fact that 18 U.S.C. 2511(1)(c) clearly prohibits
the disclosure of the contents of any intercepted wire or oral
communication. The subject telephone conversation clearly qualified as a
'wire communication' as defined in 18 U.S.C. 2510(1).3 It was therefore
incumbent upon the government to establish only that this wire
communication had been 'intercepted.' 4
Harpel charges that there is no interception of a wire communication
within the meaning of Rathbun v. United States, 355 U.S. 107, 78 S.Ct.
161, 2 L.Ed.2d 134, if a telephone extension is used. In Rathbun the Court
considered whether a former provision of the Federal Communications
Act, 47 U.S.C. 605, was violated when one of two parties to a telephone
conversation permitted a police officer to listen in on an extension phone.
In holding that there was no interception under the facts presented the
Court reasoned that 'each party to a telephone conversation takes the risk
that the other party may have an extension telephone and may allow
another to hear the conversation.' 355 U.S. at 111, 78 S.Ct. at 164. This
reasoning is clearly limited to the situation in which at least one of the
parties has consented to the overhearing and thus is factually
distinguishable from the case at bar. As Mr. Justice Frankfurter's dissent
in Rathbun pointed out:
The fact that the Court relies on 'the consent of one party' evidently implies that
it would not be without the purview of 605 for a police officer to conceal
himself in a room of a house or a suite of offices having several 'regularly used
telephone extensions' and surreptitiously to utilize such an extension to overhear
telephone conversations. 355 U.S. at 113, 78 S.Ct. at 165.
The government has adopted the position of the trial court below that the
intercepting device was the recorder and not an extension telephone. While
such a view avoids the problem presented, we are simply not persuaded by this
contention. We agree with appellant that the recording of a conversation is
immaterial when the overhearing is itself legal. It is the means whereby the
contents of the conversation are acquired that is crucial. See State v. Vizzini,
115 N.J.Super. 97, 278 A.2d 235. A recording device placed next to, or
connected with, a telephone receiver cannot itself be the 'acquiring '
mechanism. It is the receiver which serves this function-- the recorder is a mere
accessory designed to preserve the contents of the communication. This
interpretation comports squarely with the clear distinction drawn between
'intercepting' and 'recording' under 18 U.S.C. 2518(8)(a), which deals with
judicially authorized interceptions:
We therefore conclude that the tape recorder in question cannot constitute the
intercepting mechanism when used, as it is argued here, connected to a
telephone receiver.
The essence of Harpel's argument with respect to the telephone extension is that
the burden is on the government to establish that the interception was not
accomplished through the use of a telephone extension. The government
responds that a telephone extension under the statute constitutes an exception
and that the burden thus lies on the defendant to establish that he falls within it.
Tritt v. United States, 10 Cir., 421 F.2d 928.
Further, when a criminal statute sets forth an exception, which exception is not
a part of the crime, but operates to prevent an act otherwise included in the
statute from being a crime, the burden is on the defendant to bring himself
within the exception.
10
The difficulty here lies in applying this rule to the statute in question. We
conclude that the telephone-instrument exception is so incorporated with the
substance of the clause defining the offense as to constitute a material part of
the description of the act proscribed. It is undisputed that interception is an
essential element of the crime with which appellant is charged. Simply stated,
there is no interception if the acquisition of the contents of the communication
is accomplished through telephone equipment used in the ordinary course of
business. To require the defendant to prove that he qualifies for this exception
would be tantamount to forcing him to admit that he did in fact acquire the
contents of the communication and to show the government how he did it. Such
an imposition runs counter to the fundamental burden placed upon the
government to establish beyond a reasonable doubt 'every fact necessary to
constitute the crime . . ..' In re Winship, 397 U.S. 358, 364, 90 S.Ct. 1068, 1073,
25 L.Ed.2d 368. The situation presented here is distinguishable from the type
of exception examined in United States v. McCann, 5 Cir., 465 F.2d 147. The
court there held that if the defendants believed that they came within the
consent exception of 18 U.S.C. 2511, it was incumbent upon them to prove this
fact. The distinction lies in the fact that the essential elements of the offense,
including interception, were not in question. It was clearly an instance where
the exception operated 'to prevent an act otherwise included in the statute from
being a crime.' Such is not the case here.7 We hold that to establish an
interception under 18 U.S.C. 2510(4) the government must establish beyond a
reasonable doubt that the contents of a wire or oral communication were
acquired through an electronic, mechanical, or other device other than a
telephone employed by the subscriber or user in the ordinary course of its
business.
11
This the government did in the case at bar, and we conclude that the failure to
instruct the jury on the exception in question was harmless error. In so ruling,
we must reach a question not yet ruled upon in the federal judicial system. The
government's evidence established that a conversation was recorded without
judicial authorization or consent of any of the parties thereto. Without drawing
a speculative conclusion as to whether an extension telephone was actually used
to accomplish this end, we decide that even if a telephone extension was so
employed, it does not qualify as an exception under18 U.S.C. 2510(5)(a).
12
What appellant Harpel has overlooked in his reliance on the exception is that
the telephone equipment must be used 'in the ordinary course of business.' We
hold as a matter of law that a telephone extension used without authorization or
consent to surreptitiously record a private telephone conversation is not used in
the ordinary course of business. This conclusion comports with the basic
purpose of the statute, the protection of privacy, and is in line with the
reasoning of the court in People v. Tebo, 37 Mich.App. 141, 194 N.W.2d 517.
In that case the question was whether it was error to introduce evidence of a
telephone conversation which the defendant alleged had been intercepted in
violation of 18 U.S.C. 2511. The conversation was surreptitiously overheard by
a policeman when the defendant placed his one permitted telephone call at the
police station. The state attempted to justify the eavesdrop under 18 U.S.C.
2510(5)(a)(ii) which excepts a telephone 'being used by . . . an investigative or
law enforcement officer in the ordinary course of his duties.' The police
claimed that they were listening to such conversations to prevent being charged
for long-distance phone calls a prisoner might make. The court's response to
this contention was clear:
13
The plain effect, no matter what the intent, is to eavesdrop on all calls
emanating from its phones. The interest of the sheriff's department in limiting
expenses can be protected by other procedures. We do not believe the activity
engaged in here was an ordinary duty contemplated by the statute. 194 N.W.2d
at 522.
14
15
Harpel claims finally that the trial court erred in admitting, over objection, his
statement on cross-examination that he had been fired from the police
department. He argues that the admission of this testimony permitted the jury to
infer that he had been fired for commission of the crime with which he was
charged. Any error in this respect was nonprejudicial. The indictment charged
Harpel with committing the offense between February 24 and March 31, 1971.
Yet Harpel testified that he remained a police officer until June 28, 1972. Not
only is the inference of which Harpel complains a weak one, but the other
evidence of his guilt is substantial. An error possibly prejudicial does not
require reversal if the evidence of defendant's guilt is strong. United States v.
Jackson, 10 Cir., 482 F.2d 1167.
16
Affirmed.
2510. Definitions
As used in this chapter-(2) 'oral communication' means any oral communication uttered by a person
exhibiting an expectation that such communication is not subject to interception
under circumstances justifying such expectation; . . .
2510. Definitions
As used in this chapter-(1) 'wire communication' means any communication made in whole or in part
through the use of facilities for the transmission of communications by the aid
of wire, cable, or other like connection between the point of origin and the point
of reception furnished or operated by any person engaged as a common carrier
in providing or operating such facilities for the transmission of interstate or
foreign communications; . . .
It was stipulated that Mountain Bell Telephone Company provided all
telephone facilities for the Pueblo Police Department and the Bureau of
Narcotics and Dangerous Drugs in Denver and that the company qualified as a
2510. Definitions
As used in this chapter-(4) 'intercept' means the aural acquisition of the contents of any wire or oral
communication through the use of any electronic, mechanical, or other device.
See also Salazar v. People, 153 Colo. 93, 384 P.2d 725, in which the defendant
was charged with possession of marijuana. The statutory definition of
marijuana excepted seeds of the plant which were incapable of germination.
The court held that the state had the burden of proving that the marijuana in
question was not subject to this exception