Jamshid Muhtorov files motion to suppress evidence prosecutors admit was collected through warrantless eavesdropping
A criminal defendant in Colorado has launched what could shape up to be a decisive fight over the constitutionality of US government surveillance, filing a motion on Wednesday to suppress evidence prosecutors have admitted was collected through warrantless eavesdropping.
Jamshid Muhtorov, a native of Uzbekistan who came to the US as a political refugee, is accused of supporting a designated terrorist organization based in his home country. In October, he became the first defendant ever to be notified by the government that it had built its case through bulk surveillance.
The government informed Muhtorov it intended to bring evidence based on "information obtained or derived from acquisition of foreign intelligence information conducted pursuant to the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act of 1978." The notice came after an internal fight in the justice department over whether such notifications should be made.
There are now two conflicting lower court opinions about the constitutionality of the NSA bulk surveillance programs. Depending on what happens with this case, criminal as well civil issues could become involved in the matter.
The recurring justification for such programs has been that they are useful in apprehending potential terrorists and protecting the safety of the American public. When pressed for examples of cases in which such intervention has been accomplished using such data, they neve seem able to come up with much.