United States v. BrianUnited States v. Brian
- Reporters:
- ,
- Before:
- Pettine
Memorandum and Order
PETTINE, Chief Judge.
Defendants in this case are under Federal Indictment for alleged gambling offenses under
DISCUSSION
A. Defendants’ request for a “Franks” hearing.
In the case of Franks v. Delaware, 438 U.S. 154, 98 S.Ct. 2674, 57 L.Ed.2d 667 (1978), the Supreme Court addressed the question whether “a defendant in a criminal proceeding ever [has] the right, under the Fourth and Fourteenth Amendments, subsequent to the ex parte issuance of a search warrant, to challenge the truthfulness of factual statements made in an affidavit supporting the warrant.” 438 U.S. at 155, 98 S.Ct. at 2676. The Franks case involved a challenge to a warrant affidavit in which two named individuals had allegedly provided the affiant with information that supported a finding of probable cause to search defendant’s residence. Prior to trial, however, defendant’s counsel moved to suppress the items discovered in the search on grounds that the warrant failed to establish probable cause, and on grounds that the affiants lied in their warrant affidavit. Counsel stated that the individuals named in the warrant affidavit would testify that they had not been “personally interviewed by the affiant, and that, although they might have talked to another police officer, any information given by them to that officer was ‘somewhat different’ from what was recited in the affidavit.” 438 U.S. at 158, 98 S.Ct. at 2677-78. Counsel for defendant asserted that the misstatements were made in “bad faith.” The State objected to defendant’s proposed evidence and the trial court refused to look beyond the face of the warrant affidavit. Defendant was convicted and the State Supreme Court affirmed. On Certiorari, the Supreme Court of the United States reversed, holding that
where the defendant makes a substantial preliminary showing that a false statement knowingly and intentionally, or with reckless disregard for the truth, was included by the affiant in the warrant affidavit, and if the allegedly false statement is necessary to the finding of probable cause, the Fourth Amendment requires that a hearing be held at the defendant’s request. In the event that at that hearing the allegation of perjury or reckless disregard is established by the defendant by a preponderance of the evidence, and, with the affidavit’s false material set to one side, the affidavit’s remaining content is insufficient to establish probable cause, the search warrant must be voided and the fruits of the search excluded to the same extent as if probable cause was lacking on the face of the affidavit.
In the case at hand, defendants base their request for a Franks hearing on their own affidavits denying that they ever did or said the things attributed to them in agent Conley’s affidavit and on an alleged inconsistency in the Government’s materials. I must now consider whether these elements comprise the high threshold showing required by Franks.
Regarding defendants’ affidavits denying things attributed to them by Conley’s affidavit, I must first note that the Supreme Court made it very clear that a defendant’s challenge must be directed at the veracity of the affiant, not the veracity of governmental informants. 438 U.S. at 171, 98 S.Ct. at 2684. The question is whether agent Conley accurately and truthfully represented what the informants told him, not whether the informants lied to agent Conley. See United States v. Barnes, 604 F.2d 121, 152-53 (2nd Cir. 1979); United States v. Edwards, 602 F.2d 458, 465 (1st Cir. 1979); United States v. Weingartner, 485 F.Supp. 1167, 1182-83 (D.N.J.1979). With this distinction in mind, I find that defendants’ affidavits do not sufficiently implicate agent Conley’s veracity. Assuming the truth of what defendants state, their offer of proof at best impugns either the veracity of the informants or the veracity of Conley. In order to establish their right to a Franks hearing, however, defendants must make a substantial preliminary showing of deliberate falsehood or reckless disregard for the truth on the part of agent Conley. Defendants’ affidavits fail to meet this standard.
Another element of defendants’ offer of proof requires some background. Agent Conley’s affidavit in support of this Court’s wire interception authorization relied primarily on information supplied to him by confidential informants. Several of these informants told agent Conley that they engaged in betting activity with certain defendants at certain telephone numbers. These representations, accompanied by the necessary indicia of reliability and corroborating circumstances, supplied the requisite probable cause for an order authorizing wire interceptions of calls made to and from these numbers. Defendants contend, however, that the transcripts of actual interceptions fail to show any “unidentified” callers. This fact, defendants contend, “seems strangely inconsistent with the contents of [agent Conley’s] affidavit which affirmatively show substantial gambling activity between all of the informants and the ‘target’ defendants and the ‘target’ telephones.” Defendants do not elaborate further on their charge and the Government has chosen not to address the argument in response. However, it seems that defendants believe that the Government would have deleted the names of informants from the tapes of the interceptions if the infor
B. Defendants’ requests for production of informants and/or informant files.
Defendants’ motions requesting production of informants for interview and/or production of informant files do not seek a Franks hearing. Instead, through these motions, defendants seek access to information that might support a later request for such a hearing. In providing support for their requests, several defendants have noted the existence of a newspaper article in which a former FBI agent charged that a significant proportion of the bureau’s informants were nonexistent and that much of the information purportedly supplied by them was fabricated. Based on this article, defendants claim that agent Conley probably engaged in this “accepted procedure” in his affidavit in this case.
Other defendants base their request primarily on a situation which arose in the recent case of
United States v. Cortina,
630 F.2d 1207 (7th Cir. 1980), and which highlights the dilemma faced by defendants in this case. In
Cortina,
defendants, well before trial, moved to suppress the results of some searches on grounds,
inter alia,
that the warrants were supported by a false affidavit. 630 F.2d at 1209. The defendants, in support of their motion for a
Franks
hearing, contended that information attributed to a confidential informant was untrue. The District Court judge properly denied the motion on grounds that the defendants had not made the threshold showing required by
Franks:
“defendant’s affidavits did not establish that the government did not receive the information in the affidavit, but only that Source Number One may have lied or exaggerated when providing the information.”
Id.
The day before trial, however, the Government released, pursuant to the Jencks Act,
The troubling aspect of the
Cortina
case and the newspaper article noted by defendants revolves around the fact that when an affidavit relies for its assertion of probable cause upon facts attributed to
confidential
informants, defendants have no way to obtain the very information they need to assert their entitlement to a
Franks
hearing. In
Cortina,
defendants discovered the informant inconsistencies
only
due to the fact that the Government chose to call “Source Number One” at trial. See
In this case, agent Conley’s affidavit relies primarily on facts attributed to confidential informants. Without the informant statements, I doubt that probable cause could have been found. In their request, defendants contend that they never did or said some of the things attributed to them by these informants. Defendants, however, lack the means to make anything more than these bare conclusory denials which the Supreme Court specifically rejected in Franks. Because all of agent Conley’s informants were confidential, defendants have no way of corroborating their belief that he deliberately falsified his statements or made such statements in reckless disregard of the truth. Further, if the Government decides not to call its informants at trial, defendants may never be able to surmount the barrier erected in Franks.
On the other hand, I am sensitive to the need to protect the identities of confidential informants and I have doubts as to whether defendants’ requests, supported, as they are, by a newspaper article and by the Cortina case, rise to the level of serious consideration. However, because of the peculiar circumstances of this case, I am going to order an ex parte, in camera proceeding in which I will satisfy myself of agent Conley’s veracity. In this way, the Court best serves the interest of defendants in securing their Fourth Amendment rights and the interests of the Government in keeping the indentities of its informants secret.
I find authority for this extraordinary proceeding in the discretion afforded district courts to require the Government to release the identities of its confidential informants when the need for disclosure that would be “relevant and helpful to the defense of the accused” or “essential to a fair determination of the cause,” outweighs the Governmental interest in the free flow of informant information. Roviaro v. United States, 353 U.S. 53, 60-61, 77 S.Ct. 623, 627-28,1 L.Ed.2d 639 (1957). In this case, I find that, although defendants’ arguments do not mandate identification of the Government’s informants, such arguments do require that the Court satisfy itself of the veracity of agent Conley. Cf. United States v. Pastore, 487 F.Supp. 1372, 1373 (S.D.N.Y.1980) (court conducted in camera interview of informant in connection with probable cause determination). This requirement stems from the need to assure that the defendants’ Fourth Amendment rights have not been unfairly prejudiced. The Supreme Court, in Franks, held that upon a sufficient showing, the Fourth Amendment requires a hearing to validate a warrant affidavit. I am now deciding that in a case where — because the Government’s affidavit relies primarily on the use of confidential informants — defendants lack the very information that Franks requires for a threshold showing; where defendants deny, via affidavit, specific facts attributed to them by informants; and where defendants make some minimal showing of inconsistency on the face of the government’s material which supports their assertion of deliberate falsehood or reckless disregard for the truth, the Court may, and probably should, conduct an in camera interview of the affiant, and, if necessary, of the informants relied upon by the Government. This requirement will insure that, in a situation where no other means are present and where it is unclear whether the Government will call its informants at trial, defendants have some measure of protection from Governmental perjury and misstatement. Such protection is necessary for the same reason that a Franks hearing is necessary:
a flat ban on impeachment of veracity could denude the probable-cause requirement of all real meaning. The requirement that a warrant not issue “but upon probable cause, supported by Oath or affirmation,” would be reduced to a nullity if a police officer was able to use deliberately falsified allegations to demonstrate probable cause, and, having misled the magistrate, then was able to remain confident that the ploy was worthwhile.
438 U.S. at 168, 98 S.Ct. at 2682. In the classic Franks situation, defendants are assumed to have the preliminary information they need to make the required “substantial preliminary showing.” In a case like the one at hand — where the basis for a probable cause finding rested in statements attributed to confidential informants — defendants lack the ability to protect their Fourth Amendment rights through the mechanism adopted in Franks. Moreover, it is in precisely this situation that the Government has the greatest opportunity to falsify affidavits.
It might be argued that the Judge or Magistrate can adequately protect defendants’ interests when the Government initially applies for a warrant. Such argument, however, applies equally to the Franks situation — and was rejected by the majority in Franks — and ignores the nature of the ex parte warrant application. At that stage, the only question considered by a Judge or Magistrate is whether probable cause for the issuance of a warrant exists. In making this determination, the Court applies the two prong test of Aguilar v. Texas, 378 U.S. 108, 84 S.Ct. 1509, 12 L.Ed.2d 723 (1964) and Spinelli v. United States, 393 U.S. 410, 89 S.Ct. 584, 21 L.Ed.2d 637 (1969). The Court does not have the benefit of argument from defendants or of subsequent developments in the case to inform its decision. The extraordinary proceeding that I order today provides protection for defendants who have no opportunity to challenge the initial probable cause determination and who lack the means to mount the threshold established by the Supreme Court in Franks. Cf. United States v. Martin, 615 F.2d 318, 329 (5th Cir. 1980) (court recognizes problem of proof that often confronts defendants in Franks request). To afford less protection to defendants who find themselves in such a situation would “denude the probable-cause requirement of all real meaning” in much the same way that a blanket ban on attacks of the government’s affidavit would. I refuse to read the probable-cause requirement out of the Constitution by concluding that the initial probable cause determination provides defendants who cannot make a full-fledged Franks showing with their sole protection against Government falsehoods. If defendants can make the showings required by this opinion, the Court will undertake its own inquiry regarding the affiant’s veracity. In this way, I can be sure that the Government’s interest in the continued and vital free flow of information is not prejudiced and that defendants Fourth Amendment rights are not stripped of all meaning.
Accordingly, I deny the defendants’ motion for a Franks hearing, for production of informants, and for production of the Government’s informant files. However, I order the Government to present agent Conley for an in camera interview by the Court and, if necessary, to present the informants relied upon in agent Conley’s affidavit for a similar interview.
DEFENDANT MARTIN’S MOTION FOR SUPPRESSION OF SEIZED DOCUMENTS ON GROUNDS OF FIFTH AMENDMENT
Defendant Martin has been charged with using a telephone for the transmission of bets and wagers while engaged in the business of betting and wagering. He has moved to suppress certain papers showing 1) the gross amounts of wagers allegedly accepted by him on four dates, and 2) an account of various amounts owed to or by various bettors who allegedly dealt with him. These papers were seized from Martin’s residence pursuant to an unchallenged search warrant. Martin argues that if he were in the business of accepting wagers as alleged in the indictment, then he was required by
Section 4411 of the Internal Revenue Code imposes a special occupational tax on bookmakers, while § 4401 levies an additional, excise tax on all gross wagers they accept. As an aid in figuring the latter tax,
In a thorough and carefully reasoned opinion, the federal district court for the Middle District of Louisiana has held that the government may not use such betting records to convict of gambling a bookmaker who has kept the records because of the statutory mandate. See U.S. v. Haydel, 486 F.Supp. 109 (D.C.1980). This result seems to me thoroughly consistent with, and in fact required by, the reasoning of Marchetti and Grosso. Just as the government may not compel a bookmaker to obtain a special stamp for tax purposes and then present this registration as evidence that he is a gambler, so it may not require him to keep records of his betting activity and then use the fruits of his compliance to convict him of running a wagering business.
Here, the Government does not dispute that the materials seized from Martin’s home were records of the type required by
For purposes of Fifth Amendment analysis, it is the motivation of the defendant rather than the character of the evidence that is important. In the words of the First Circuit, “The fifth amendment proscribes compelled self-incrimination, not incriminating statements.” U.S. v. Rios Ruiz, 579 F.2d 670, 675 (1st Cir. 1978) (emphasis added). “The essential predicate for a fifth amendment claim is a finding that an accused has been ‘compelled’ to incriminate himself.” U.S. v. Corbo, 555 F.2d 1279 (5th Cir. 1977). “[T]he privilege can be invoked only when the actual preparation of the documents or the making of the written declarations which they contain has been compelled. When a document has been created voluntarily, ... the fifth amendment does not bar its use in a prosecution provided the document has been obtained by a lawful seizure.” Fagan v. U.S., 545 F.2d 1005, 1007 (5th Cir. 1977). See Andresen v. Maryland, 427 U.S. 463, 471-78, 96 S.Ct. 2737, 2743-47, 49 L.Ed.2d 627 (1976).
Without implying that they are the only relevant types of evidence on this issue, I would point out two areas of inquiry that seem material to the question of a defendant’s motivation. First and foremost is his compliance, or lack thereof, with other portions of the wagering tax statute.
It remains to detail the procedures by which the Fifth Amendment challenge is to be resolved. Normally, in a motion to suppress evidence, the defendant has the initial burden of adducing evidence that his constitutional or statutory rights have been violated.
See, e. g., Kastigar v. U.S.,
406 U.S. 441, 461-62, 92 S.Ct. 1653, 1665-66, 32 L.Ed.2d 212 (1972);
U.S. v. Montilla Ambrosiani,
610 F.2d 65, 68 n.2 (1st Cir. 1979);
U.S. v. Evans,
572 F.2d 455, 486 (5th Cir. 1978),
cert. denied sub nom. Gent v. U.S.,
439 U.S. 870, 99 S.Ct. 200, 58 L.Ed.2d 182 (1978). The presence of
In these circumstances, I think the appropriate procedure is as follows. Defendant must initially come forward with some evidence that he kept the seized records because of the statutory mandate. Specifically, he should produce evidence of his compliance with other provisions of the wagering tax laws. Once defendant has made this showing, the government bears the burden of proving that
All this will take place in the context of a suppression hearing. As in the case of a hearing to establish standing under the Fourth Amendment, statements made by the defendant in the course of the hearing will not be admissible against him at trial.
The hearing for defendant Martin on this issue is hereby scheduled for February 23, 1981, at 9:00 a. m. Pursuant to the motions for incorporation, I assume that at least some of the other defendants make a Fifth Amendment claim analogous to that raised by Martin. Any defendant requesting a suppression hearing on these grounds will so notify the Court by February 17, 1981, and should be prepared to go forward at a hearing on February 23, 1981.