Case Explained: USA V. PANOUSOPOULOS

Court: United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit Filed: 2026-06-18 Docket: CR-22-00820-JCH-LCK-2 The Ninth Circuit affirmed the district court’s order granting the defendant’s motion to suppress evidence obtained from a wiretap, ruling that the government failed to satisfy statutory requirements under 18 U.S.C. § 2518. The court applied de novo review to the legal conclusions and clear error review to the underlying factual findings. The court held that the district court did not clearly err in finding the affiant acted recklessly by misrepresenting facts regarding Arizona property tax law, specifically conveying that a county official caused another to withhold a delinquency notice as a “favor” when no such notice was legally due at the time. Furthermore, the court affirmed the determination that the affidavit failed to establish the statutory necessity for a wiretap under 18 U.S.C. § 2518(3)(c). The court reasoned that because normal investigative procedures—specifically recorded face-to-face meetings between a confidential informant and the target—had not failed or appeared unlikely to succeed, the government could not demonstrate that electronic surveillance was required. Consequently, the wiretap order was invalidated due to these material misrepresentations and the lack of necessity. As a practical consequence, the evidence derived from the wiretap is suppressed, and the government’s appeal is denied, leaving the district court’s suppression order in effect. The court declined to address other potential statutory deficiencies regarding probable cause. Do It For The Case Law is a news reporting service. Nothing in this episode constitutes legal advice.