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JAMES T. WELLS v. STATE OF MARYLAND
Listen to this articleCriminal procedure — Motion to suppress evidence — Recorded telephone call
A jury in the Circuit Court for Prince George’s County convicted James Wells, appellant, of one count of possession of a regulated firearm and one count of possession of a firearm by a convicted felon. After merging the convictions for purposes of sentencing, appellant was sentenced to 15 years’ incarceration. Appellant was convicted of possessing a handgun found in a bag on the closet floor of a bedroom in the home of Ingrid Carroll and her daughters. The State presented the testimony of Dominique Harris, one of Ms. Carroll’s daughters, and the contents of several telephone conversations in which appellant was a participant (hereinafter the “Recordings”), linking appellant to the gun. The calls were intercepted and the Recordings obtained pursuant to an order issued by the circuit court (hereinafter the “Order”).
On appeal, appellant first contends that the court erred in denying his motion to suppress the contents of the recorded calls because the calls, which concerned a handgun, were not within the scope of the court’s Order, which concerned drug conspiracies, and that, after hearing the conversations, the police failed to obtain court authorization to use the information. …
