State law enforcement agencies may be more likely to ask judges for wiretap authority now that state lawmakers have agreed to eliminate a requirement for a closed adversarial hearing before approval is granted.

Prosecutors and police have rarely asked for wiretaps under the state's electronic surveillance law because of the requirement for an adversarial hearing, where a defense attorney is appointed by the court to potentially challenge evidence presented by law enforcement. Police on O'ahu could not recall using the state's law for a wiretap since a sports betting case in 1998.

But state House and Senate conferees agreed yesterday on a bill to remove the adversarial hearing and also make other changes that align the law more closely to federal wiretap law. State Attorney General Mark Bennett said the similarity to federal law would likely mean state prosecutors could use evidence collected in federal wiretap investigations in state cases.

State prosecutors have complained they have been unable to use federal wiretap evidence in major narcotics cases to prosecute more minor figures in drug rings for state crimes.

"It is a bill that protects privacy rights while allowing law enforcement to utilize 21st-century technology to fight criminal elements that are absolutely using 21st-century technology," Bennett said.

The bill, which now goes to the House and Senate for final approval, has been proposed by law enforcement officials for several years, but lawmakers have been careful about preserving privacy and civil liberties.

Eavesdropping has also been an issue nationally in the debate over the USA Patriot Act, which applied federal wiretap law to terrorism investigations, and the Bush administration's use of secret electronic surveillance to listen to the telephone calls of Americans phoning people in foreign countries.

State Senate Majority Leader Colleen Hanabusa, D-21st (Nana-kuli, Makaha), chairwoman of the Senate Judiciary and Hawaiian Affairs Committee, said state wiretap investigations could be used against crystal methamphetamine and other drug trafficking in the Islands.

Lawmakers agreed to allow wiretaps to gather evidence of murder, kidnapping, criminal property damage and drug dealing, and in organized-crime cases involving extortion, bribery, gambling and receiving stolen property.

Hanabusa said that even without the adversarial hearing, law enforcement would still need judges' approval for wiretaps. "No matter what, you still have to convince the court," she said.

State Rep. Mark Moses, R-40th (Makakilo, Kapolei, Royal Kunia), said the present state wiretap law is too cumbersome and dangerous because the adversarial hearing, even though it is closed to the public, might expose evidence or the identity of informants or undercover officers if the information leaks out. "It is my belief that this bill will help to get criminals off the street and protect the community," he said.

The American Civil Liberties Union of Hawai'i and some defense attorneys had opposed the bill, arguing that law enforcement has never tried to make the state wiretap law work because of opposition to the adversarial hearing, which they believe was a reasonable safeguard against overzealous investigations.

Reach Derrick DePledge at ddepledge@honoluluadvertiser.com.