Long v. State

137 S.W.3d 726, 2004 WL 912506
Court of Appeals of Texas·Decided July 6, 2004·No. 10-00-00305-CR·Published·Cited by 86 cases

Opinions

[729] OPINION

TOM GRAY, Chief Justice.

A jury found Carl Long guilty of manufacturing a controlled substance; namely, methamphetamine. Long elected to have the trial court assess his punishment. He pled true to two enhancement paragraphs. The court found those enhancements to be true and sentenced Long to forty-five years in prison. Long appeals the trial court’s judgment. We affirm.

Overview

Detective Elmer Tanner of the Navarro County Sheriffs Department executed a search warrant of Long’s residence. The search warrant was issued upon Tanner’s affidavit which included information Tanner received from a confidential informant (Cl) and from his own personal observations at Long’s residence. During the search of the house, methamphetamine and equipment and ingredients commonly used in the production of methamphetamine were found. Tanner field tested the drugs found at Long’s residence and received a positive test result for methamphetamine. Long was ultimately charged with manufacturing a controlled substance. Long wrote a letter, which was admitted at trial, in which he confessed to manufacturing about twenty grams of methamphetamine and making some gas and cigarette money from its sale.

Motion to Suppress

In his first issue, Long contends that the trial court erred in denying his motion to suppress because the affidavit used for the issuance of a search warrant did not contain sufficient facts to establish probable cause. Specifically, he argues: (1) that the statements attributed to the Cl in the affidavit were conclusions, not facts, as is required by Article 18.01;1 and

(2)that the information sworn to in the affidavit concerning the Cl’s reliability was false or made with reckless disregard for the truth. We will begin our review of this issue with the second part of his argument.

Law

We have previously set out the standard of review for a motion to suppress and the law generally applicable to review the sufficiency of a search warrant. See Brown v. State, 115 S.W.3d 633, 635-37 (Tex.App.Waco 2003, no pet.). We will use those standards, with additional law specific to Long’s issue, to determine whether the trial court erred in denying Long’s motion to suppress.

Confidential Informant

When a Cl provides facts upon which probable cause for the issuance of a search warrant relies, the veracity, reliability, and basis of knowledge of the Cl, though relevant in determining the value of the informant’s report, “should be understood simply as closely intertwined issues that may usefully illuminate the commonsense, practical question whether there is ‘probable cause’ to believe that contraband or evidence is located in a particular place.” Illinois v. Gates, 462 U.S. 213, 230, 238, 103 S.Ct. 2317, 76 L.Ed.2d 527 (1983).

False Statement in Affidavit

The United States Supreme Court, in Franks v. Delaware, stated that if, at a hearing, the defendant establishes by a preponderance of the evidence an allegation of perjury or reckless disregard, the affidavit’s false material is set aside; and if the remainder of the affidavit is insufficient to establish probable cause, the search warrant is voided and the fruits of the search are excluded. Franks v. Dela[730] ware, 438 U.S. 154, 156, 98 S.Ct. 2674, 2676, 57 L.Ed.2d 667 (1978). Under Franks, the false statement in the affidavit must have been either intentional or made with reckless disregard for the truth, and must have been necessary to the finding of probable cause, in order to render the warrant invalid. Dancy v. State, 728 S.W.2d 772, 782 (Tex.Crim.App.1987). “If the statement was an instance ‘where the police have been merely negligent in checking or recording the facts relevant to a probable cause determination,’ then as such, it is beyond the pale of Franks.” Id. (quoting Franks, 438 U.S. at 170, 98 S.Ct. at 2683). A misstatement in an affidavit that is merely the result of simple negligence or inadvertence, as opposed to reckless disregard for the truth, will not render invalid the warrant based on it. Franks, 438 U.S. at 171, 98 S.Ct. at 2684; Dancy, 728 S.W.2d at 783.

Affiant’s Truthfulness

Long insists the portion of the affidavit regarding the reliability of the CI is false; thus, it must be excised. And once that section is excised, so Long’s argument goes, the affidavit is incomplete because it does not contain the requirement of showing the credibility of the CI and, therefore, does not establish probable cause on which to base a search warrant.

Detective Tanner stated in his affidavit: (wording as in original)

Affiant believes that the information so furnished is true and correct, and that the informant is credible, because said informant has previously furnished information to affiant on at least two or more occasions in Navarro County, Texas, and on each and every occasion, such information has proven true, correct and reliable.

Long argues that Tanner testified at the motion to suppress hearing that the CI had not furnished rehable information to him on at least two occasions because the CI had only been paid for information once, and it was the department’s practice to pay informants when the information provided by the CI proved to be rehable. After a complete reading of the testimony given by Tanner at the motion to suppress hearing, we disagree with Long’s evaluation of what was said. There may have been some question raised regarding the number of payments made to this CI, but there was no testimony that contradicted Tanner’s statement in the affidavit regarding the Cl’s reliability.

The trial court heard Tanner’s testimony regarding the number of times this CI had proven reliable and the cross-examination concerning the possible inconsistent number of times the department had paid this CI. Giving almost total deference to the trial court’s determinations of facts that are based on an evaluation of the credibility of a witness, we find the trial court did not err in choosing to believe Tanner’s testimony regarding the reliability of the CI.

Conclusions in the Affidavit

In his affidavit supporting his request for a search warrant, Detective Tanner relayed information he obtained from a CI and from his own personal observations made while at Long’s residence, stating in pertinent part: (abbreviations and wording as in original)

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Long v. State, 137 S.W.3d 726, 2004 WL 912506 (Tex. Ct. App. 2004).

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