D Eavesdropping by Federal or Sister-state Agents

• Library: Illinois Decisions on Search and Seizure (2017 Ed.)

D. Eavesdropping by Federal or Sister-State Agents

United States v. Infelice, 506 F.2d 1358 (7th Cir. 1974) (holding where federal agents situated in Illinois engage in electronic eavesdropping of conversations that is contrary to Illinois statute but consistent with federal law, evidence is admissible in federal court due to operation of federal supremacy clause).

People v. Coleman, 227 Ill. 2d 426, 882 N.E.2d 1025 (2008) (The defendant was convicted of two counts of unlawful delivery of a controlled substance after multiple drug deals were caught on videotape and by an informant through the warrantless use a recording device as the product of a joint federal and state investigation. The defendant argued that the audio recordings should have been suppressed because the informant's use of the recording device violated Illinois' eavesdropping statute. HELD: Electronic surveillance evidence gathered in compliance with federal law, but contrary to the terms of the Illinois eavesdropping statute, is not inadmissible absent evidence of collusion between federal and state agents to avoid the requirements of state law. "Collusion" involves a secret agreement or cooperation for a fraudulent or deceitful purpose. Here, the defense could present no evidence of collusion, and the mere fact that federal and state agents were working together on a drug bust did not constitute collusion. Thus, the audio evidence gathered by the informant's recording device, although in violation of Illinois' eavesdropping statute because it was not court authorized or with the defendant's consent, was admissible under federal law since there was no evidence of collusion between the agents).

People v. Barrow, 133 Ill. 2d 226, 549 N.E.2d 240 (1989) (Illinois and Maryland police conducted consensual eavesdropping of a defendant within the State of Maryland that was legal under the terms of Maryland law, which evidence led to a successful murder prosecution of...