People v. Arnold

527 P.2d 806, 186 Colo. 372, 1974 Colo. LEXIS 753
CourtSupreme Court of Colorado
DecidedOctober 29, 1974
Docket25938
StatusPublished
Cited by36 cases

This text of 527 P.2d 806 (People v. Arnold) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Supreme Court of Colorado primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
People v. Arnold, 527 P.2d 806, 186 Colo. 372, 1974 Colo. LEXIS 753 (Colo. 1974).

Opinions

MR. JUSTICE HODGES

delivered the opinion of the Court.

Defendant appeals from convictions of possession of dangerous drugs and conspiracy to possess dangerous drugs. On this appeal, he contends that certain evidence seized in his apartment should be suppressed because (1) the affidavit in support of a search warrant issued to search his apartment was insufficient, (2) the trial court erred in denying a motion for disclosure of a confidential informant, and (3)\the police forceably entered his apartment without prior identification and announcement of purpose. The defendant also argues that the evidence was insufficient to support a conspiracy conviction. Under the facts here, the defendant’s contentions are without merit. The judgment of the trial court is therefore affirmed.

Defendant’s apartment was searched pursuant to a .search warrant. In the course of the search, the police officers seized a quantity of a drug known as D-L Meth-Amphetamine, which was introduced as an exhibit at trial to a jury. The defendant and one Marshall, a co-occupant of the apartment, were arrested at the scene of the search.

I.

Defendant contends that the affidavit presented in support of the issuance of the search warrant is insufficient to establish probable cause. In testing the sufficiency of [375]*375affidavits in support of search warrants, this court has followed the mandate of the United States Supreme Court in applying the two-pronged Aguilar-Spinelli test. An affidavit which relies on information supplied by a confidential informant must allege sufficient underlying facts from which the issuing magistrate can make an independent determination that illegal activity is being carried on in the place to be searched. In addition, the affidavit must set forth sufficient information so that the magistrate can determine independently that the informant is credible, or that his information is reliable. Aguilar v. Texas, 378 U.S. 108, 85 S.Ct. 1509, 12 L.Ed.2d 723 (1964); Spinelli v. United States, 393 U.S. 410, 89 S.Ct. 584, 21 L.Ed.2d 637 (1969); People v. Masson, 185 Colo. 65, 521 P.2d 1246 (1974); People v. Harris, 182 Colo. 75, 510 P.2d 1374 (1973); People v. Treadway, 182 Colo. 239, 512 P.2d 275 (1973); People v. Ward, 181 Colo. 246, 508 P.2d 1257 (1973); People v. Peschong, 181 Colo. 29, 506 P.2d 1232 (1973).

In applying these standards, it is important to keep in mind that the guidelines set forth must be grounded in the practical considerations of criminal investigation. These considerations are well explained in United States v. Ventresca, 380 U.S. 102, 108, 85 S.Ct. 741, 746, 13 L.Ed.2d 684 (1965) as follows:

“. . . affidavits for search warrants . . . must be tested and interpreted by magistrates and courts in a commonsense and realistic fashion. They are normally drafted by nonlawyers in the midst and haste of a criminal investigation. Technical requirements of elaborate specificity once exacted under common-law pleadings have no proper place in this area. A grudging or negative attitude by reviewing courts toward warrants will tend to discourage police officers from submitting their evidence to a judicial officer before acting.”

The affidavit involved in this case contains the statement by the informant that he was present in the apartment of the defendant, and that he saw the defendant in possession of dangerous drugs. The direct observations of the informant are sufficient to satisfy the first prong of the [376]*376Aguilar-Spinelli test. Jones v. United States, 362 U.S. 257, 80 S.Ct. 725, 4 L.Ed.2d 697 (1960); People v. Baird, 182 Colo. 284, 512 P.2d 629 (1973); Peschong, supra; People v. Clark, 175 Colo. 446, 488 P.2d 565 (1971); People v. MacDonald, 173 Colo. 470, 480 P.2d 555 (1971).

The second prong of the Aguilar-Spinelli test is satisfied by the statement in the affidavit that the information was received from “a previously reliable confidential informant whose information has resulted in narcotics arrest and seizures on at least two past occasions . . .” The statement is very similar to that approved in Ward, supra, where the information supplied by the informant had “proven reliable ‘on at least 2 recent past occasions which resulted in narcotics arrests and seizures . . .’ ” See also Baird, supra.

Appellant urges that the reliability of the informant is not established unless the previously supplied information resulted in convictions. That the information resulted in arrests is, in our view, sufficient. The issue involved is the reliability of the informant; this reliability is satisfactorily established if the previous information led to arrests. To impose the more stringent requirement that the information led to convictions would impose an undue restriction on law enforcement officers. The information previously furnished may be in connection with cases not yet tried or may relate to prosecutions dismissed for reasons unrelated to the reliability of the informant’s information. Of course, the fact that the information previously supplied has resulted in convictions would strengthen the reliability factor of the informant. Cf. People v. Treadway, supra.

II.

Next, the defendant claims the trial court erred in denying his motion for disclosure of the informant, or in the alternative, the trial court erred in not allowing an in camera hearing as to the sufficiency of the allegations of the affidavit, after certain defense testimony challenged the integrity of the affidavit.

In Roviaro v. United States, 353 U.S. 53, 77 S.Ct. 623, 1 L.Ed.2d 639 (1957), the Supreme Court indicated that a trial [377]*377judge, when confronted with a motion for disclosure of an informant, must balance the public interest in the continued flow of reliable information against the individual’s right to prepare his defense.

This court has ruled that when evidence of lack of credibility is presented to the trial judge, he may, in his discretion, order disclosure of the informant. If the trial judge finds that the police officers relied in good faith upon credible information supplied by a reliable informant, the informant’s identity need not be disclosed. People v. Quintana, 183 Colo. 81, 514 P.2d 1325 (1973); De La Cruz v. People, 177 Colo. 46, 492 P.2d 627 (1972).

Defendant here challenges the trial court’s refusal to order disclosure of the informant after the defendant had introduced testimony at a pretrial suppression hearing that the informant was fictitious.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
527 P.2d 806, 186 Colo. 372, 1974 Colo. LEXIS 753, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/people-v-arnold-colo-1974.