New York Criminal Procedure Law Section 705.15 - Application for an order authorizing the use of a pen register or a trap and trace device.

705.15 Application for an order authorizing the use of a pen register

or a trap and trace device.

1. An ex parte application for an order or an extension of an order authorizing the use of a pen register or a trap and trace device must be made to a justice in writing, and must be subscribed and sworn to by the applicant.

2. The application must contain:

(a) The identity of the applicant and the identity of the law enforcement agency conducting the investigation; and

(b) A statement of facts and circumstances sufficient to justify the applicant's belief that an order authorizing the use of a pen register or a trap and trace device should be issued, including (i) a statement of the specific facts on the basis of which the applicant reasonably suspects that the designated crime has been, is being, or is about to be committed and demonstrating that the information likely to be obtained by use of a pen register or a trap and trace device is or will be relevant to an ongoing criminal investigation of such designated offense, (ii) the identity, if known, of the person to whom is leased or in whose name is listed the telephone line to which the pen register or trap and trace device is to be attached, (iii) the identity, if known, of the person who is the subject of the criminal investigation, (iv) the number and, if known, the physical location of the telephone line to which the pen register or trap and trace device is to be attached and, in the case of a trap and trace device, the geographic limits of the trap and trace order, and (v) a statement of the designated crime or crimes to which the information likely to be obtained by the use of the pen register or trap and trace device relates; and

(c) A statement of the period of time for which the authorization for the use of a pen register or a trap and trace device is required; and

(d) A statement of the facts concerning all previous applications, known to the applicant, for an order authorizing the use of a pen register or a trap and trace device involving any of the same persons or facilities specified in the application, and the action taken by the justice on each such application.

3. Allegations of fact in the application may be based either upon the personal knowledge of the applicant or upon information and belief. If the applicant personally knows the facts alleged, it must be so stated. If the facts stated in the application are derived in whole or in part from the statements of persons other than the applicant, the sources of such facts must be either disclosed or described.


Last modified: February 3, 2019