N.D.Ill.: Reasonable expectation of privacy in conversations alone in the back of a paddy wagon

A “squadrol” is different than in a police car because of the different privacy interest in the enclosed back of the vehicle. Therefore, ATF recorded conversations in the back have a reasonable expectation of privacy. United States v. Williams, 2014 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 20802 (N.D. Ill. February 18, 2014):

Surreptitiously recording suspects in squadrols [like a paddy wagon: “an automobile that is used by police both as a squad car and as an ambulance” per Merriam-Webster] is a somewhat regular practice by the Chicago ATF. The recording equipment is provided by the ATF on an investigation-by-investigation basis. Although the recording equipment had the functionality to allow for simultaneous listening, that function was not activated. Thus, when the squadrol arrived at the station, the recordings had to be downloaded from the recording devices onto disks. Officer Conway testified that downloading each of the two video recordings would take approximately 35 to 45 minutes and that downloading the audio recording would take approximately 20 to 25 minutes. Officer Conway made copies of the recordings for the case agents; he testified that he had no interaction with the agents who were interviewing the arrestees.

The squadrol had three compartments: two separate rear compartments for prisoners and a separate cab compartment for the driver and passenger. Williams, Hummons, and Lee were placed in the middle compartment—the front prisoner compartment—directly behind the cab compartment. The bench on which the suspects were sitting was on the front wall of the middle compartment, so that the arrestees were facing backwards with their backs against the front wall. There were two windows covered by metal grating on the front wall of the middle compartment. One was slightly above eye level and behind the heads of passengers seated on the bench in the middle compartment and looked out over the cab compartment. The other was at hip level for seated passengers and looked into the cab right behind the headrests of the seats in that compartment. The windows were made of thick plexiglass, and the window that looked into the cab was not shared by the cab. The suspects were oriented back-to-back with the officers in the cab compartment, but there was space between the thick window of the back compartment and the window of the cab. Officer Conway testified that individuals in the cab compartment can see through the window into the back compartment, but they cannot hear through it, and vice versa.

. . .

Given the factual differences between the rear compartment of a squadrol and the back seat of a patrol car, the Court concludes that the non-binding authority the government cites regarding expectations of privacy in a patrol car is not applicable to the present case. After carefully considering the totality of the circumstances, the Court finds that Defendants’ “expectations of freedom from intrusion” into their conversation were reasonable. See Katz, 389 U.S. at 361 (Harlan, J., concurring). The officers infringed on Defendants’ reasonable expectation of privacy by using hidden recording devices without obtaining a warrant and thus violated Defendants’ basic Fourth Amendment rights. Having found the recording to be unconstitutional, the Court need not address Defendants’ argument that the recording was also a violation of the Fifth Amendment. The Court turns now to the appropriate scope of suppression.