U.S. v. Hansmeier

In prosecution on drug conspiracy charge, Dist. Ct. did not err in denying defendant’s motion to suppress drug-dealing paraphernalia found in defendant’s home pursuant to search warrant, where defendant argued that affidavit supporting issuance of search warrant lacked probable cause and contained material falsehoods and omissions. While defendant argued that agent generating affidavit relied on untested information from recently arrest informant, Ct. of Appeals found that affidavit contained probable cause to support search warrant, where: (1) certain facts supplied by informant was corroborated, including address of defendant’s home where informant claimed he had made several drug purchases; and (2) officer generating affidavit was familiar with defendant from prior criminal investigations, including defendant’s prior drug-related conviction. Moreover, informant provided detailed information regarding quantity, type of drugs and pricing for his prior dealings with defendant, and informant’s statements were not subject to immunity and were against his penal interests. Fact that affidavit contained false statements regarding alleged incident where defendant had flushed down drugs in toilet and regarding length of time informant had been dealing with defendant did not require suppression of evidence, where said facts were not necessary to finding of probable cause, and where there was no evidence that officer was attempting to mislead issuing judge.