fssalaska
Well-Known Member
FAIRBANKS - A judge or grand jury are not needed to force a utility cooperative to give police records of suspected pot growers, according to a Court of Appeals opinion reached Tuesday in a case involving GVEA and the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration.
In late 2010, the DEA served the Fairbanks electricity co-op with a subpoena demanding the power consumption and payment records for three customers. GVEA resisted, citing a policy of protecting customers records. Fairbanks District Court Judge Ralph Beistline sided with the DEAs authority to get the information with a subpoena.
In its appeal to the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals, Fairbanks attorney Michael Kramer argued GVEA should be able to invoke its customers' Fourth Amendment protection from search and seizure to refuse the DEA request without a probable cause search warrant from a judge.
In a unanimous published opinion, the three-judge panel of court of appeals judges disagreed.
A customer ordinarily lacks a reasonable expectation of privacy in an item, like a business record, in which he has no possessory or ownership interest, wrote Judge William Fletcher, citing a 2000 case involving motel registration records.
The court also agreed with the DEA that electricity records were relevant to a drug investigation because higher-than-usual electricity use can be a sign of lamps used to grow marijuana. The court also ruled that the request for records from three customers was not overly broad.
During the process of the appeal, GVEA agreed to comply with the subpoena, making the case mostly a legal exercise.
The names of the GVEA customers are not given in the court opinion.
Read more: Fairbanks Daily News-Miner - Police DEA granted wide access to Fairbanks residents utility records This is so f'ed UP ~
In late 2010, the DEA served the Fairbanks electricity co-op with a subpoena demanding the power consumption and payment records for three customers. GVEA resisted, citing a policy of protecting customers records. Fairbanks District Court Judge Ralph Beistline sided with the DEAs authority to get the information with a subpoena.
In its appeal to the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals, Fairbanks attorney Michael Kramer argued GVEA should be able to invoke its customers' Fourth Amendment protection from search and seizure to refuse the DEA request without a probable cause search warrant from a judge.
In a unanimous published opinion, the three-judge panel of court of appeals judges disagreed.
A customer ordinarily lacks a reasonable expectation of privacy in an item, like a business record, in which he has no possessory or ownership interest, wrote Judge William Fletcher, citing a 2000 case involving motel registration records.
The court also agreed with the DEA that electricity records were relevant to a drug investigation because higher-than-usual electricity use can be a sign of lamps used to grow marijuana. The court also ruled that the request for records from three customers was not overly broad.
During the process of the appeal, GVEA agreed to comply with the subpoena, making the case mostly a legal exercise.
The names of the GVEA customers are not given in the court opinion.
Read more: Fairbanks Daily News-Miner - Police DEA granted wide access to Fairbanks residents utility records This is so f'ed UP ~
