I have a question about this whole government intrusion thing. Perhaps a lawyer can explain:
Suppose the government gets a warrant to wiretap some guy. He happens to get a call from his lawyer, and the government overhears that he's committed some crime.
Now there's an attorney/client privilege preventing you from directly producing the tape (is there?) so you can't just do that. But the fact that you've heard this means as an investigator you'll probably pursue this guy much more aggressively, and perhaps gather other evidence rather than give up.
If you gather other evidence, it's called "parallel construction" and it's A Thing. It doesn't just apply to wire-taps; all sorts of evidence would be inadmissible, but of course once investigators know something there are often other ways of figuring out a means to get evidence (or, at least, getting to the point you can justify a warrant).
I think the short answer is that they could get away with it if they kept it secret, but if the courts found out about it that alone could be enough to through the entire case.
> The N.S.A.’s protections for attorney-client conversations are narrowly crafted, said Stephen Gillers, an expert on legal ethics at New York University’s School of Law. The agency is barred from sharing with prosecutors intercepted attorney-client communications involving someone under indictment in the United States, according to previously disclosed N.S.A. rules. But the agency may still use or share the information for intelligence purposes.
They hang up the recording when the lawyer calls. Have you watched The Wire? The cops get in trouble because they listen too long to a non-pertinent call which becomes pertinent when a shipment is discussed.
Suppose the government gets a warrant to wiretap some guy. He happens to get a call from his lawyer, and the government overhears that he's committed some crime.
Now there's an attorney/client privilege preventing you from directly producing the tape (is there?) so you can't just do that. But the fact that you've heard this means as an investigator you'll probably pursue this guy much more aggressively, and perhaps gather other evidence rather than give up.
How does that work?