People v. Varacalli

OPINION OF THE COURT

Gloria Goldstein, J.

In the recently decided case of People v Bialostok (80 NY2d 738), the Court of Appeals enunciated a new doctrine relating to the legal requirements for the use of "pen register” devices in criminal investigations.

Bialostok (supra) determined that any electronic device capable of conversion from a pen register (which only records numbers dialed from a particular phone), into an instrumentality capable of intercepting conversations, must be treated as an eavesdropping device. Pursuant to the CPL, use of this instrumentality would be permitted only after…