US v. Jackson — criminal — affirmance — Greenberg

The Third Circuit today affirmed a drug-dealing conviction, summarizing its ruling thus (footnote omitted):

Jackson challenges the district court authorized wiretaps because he
contends that the state court lacked jurisdiction to permit the
underlying wiretaps of cellphones outside of Pennsylvania. In
this case intercepted calls were placed and received outside of
that state, even though the calls in part concerned cocaine
trafficking in Pennsylvania. Accordingly, Jackson contends that
the evidence obtained through the federal interceptions was the fruit of illegal conduct and should have been suppressed.

Jackson also claims that during the trial there were three
unchallenged prejudicial plain errors: (1) the admission of a case
agent’s testimony interpreting the contents of certain telephone
calls; (2) the admission of co-conspirators’ testimony about their
convictions and guilty pleas for the same crime; and (3) the
prosecutor’s mention of a co-conspirator’s Fifth Amendment
right not to testify when she was prompted to identify the
evidentiary rule that permitted the admission into evidence of
what otherwise would have been inadmissible hearsay. Jackson
urges that those errors separately and cumulatively require
reversal of his conviction.

We conclude that inasmuch as the District Court did not
err in denying Jackson’s motions to suppress the wiretap
evidence and his other contentions of error, even if correct,
would not make claims rising to the level of plain errors
entitling him to relief, we will affirm Jackson’s conviction.

Joining Greenberg were Fisher and Krause. Arguing counsel were F. Clinton Broden of Dallas, TX for the defendant and Donovan Cocas for the government.