Defendants’ rights violated by the warrantless electronic monitoring and recording of

2008 MT 296
STATE OF MONTANA, No. 05-676
v.
MICHAEL THADDEUS GOETZ,
Were the Defendants’ rights under Article II, Sections 10 and 11 of the Montana Constitution violated by the warrantless electronic monitoring and recording of their one-on-one conversations with confidential informants, notwithstanding the confidential informants’ consent to the monitoring?
The electronic monitoring and recording of those conversations without a warrant or the existence of an established exception to the warrant requirement violated the Defendants’ rights under Article II, Sections 10 and 11. As a result, we hold the District Court erred in denying the Defendants’ motions to suppress evidence derived from the warrantless electronic monitoring and recording of the three conversations at issue on the basis that the activities at issue did not constitute searches.
Reversed and remanded for further proceedings consistent with this opinion.