State of New Jersey, Plaintiff-Appellant v. Primo v. Mollica and Augustine Ferrone, Defendants-Respondents

Summary

The Supreme Court of New Jersey held that the state constitution protects hotel telephone billing records from warrantless seizure and that a defendant with a participatory interest in the underlying criminal activity has standing to challenge such seizure. However, the Court also held that the state constitution does not bar the use of those records when they are seized by federal officers acting independently under federal law. The Court reversed the trial court’s suppression order and remanded for further determination of the intergovernmental relationship. Justice Stein concurred in the result, agreeing that the use of the records by state police does not offend the state constitution.