Opinion ID: 844257
Heading Depth: 5
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Denial of evidentiary hearing on motion to traverse

Text: Defendant moved to traverse the search warrant on the ground that material information was omitted from the affidavit. The trial court denied the motion without conducting an evidentiary hearing. Defendant contends this was error. The contention fails. (13) A defendant has a limited right to challenge the veracity of statements contained in an affidavit of probable cause made in support of the issuance of a search warrant. The trial court must conduct an evidentiary hearing only if a defendant makes a substantial showing that (1) the affidavit contains statements that are deliberately false or were made in reckless disregard of the truth, and (2) the affidavit's remaining contents, after the false statements are excised, are insufficient to support a finding of probable cause. Innocent or negligent misrepresentations will not support a motion to traverse. ( Franks v. Delaware (1978) 438 U.S. 154, 154-156 [57 L.Ed.2d 667, 98 S.Ct. 2674]; People v. Lewis and Oliver (2006) 39 Cal.4th 970, 988-989 [47 Cal.Rptr.3d 467, 140 P.3d 775].) A defendant who challenges a search warrant based on omissions in the affidavit bears the burden of showing an intentional or reckless omission of material information that, when added to the affidavit, renders it insufficient to support a finding of probable cause. (See People v. Avalos (1996) 47 Cal.App.4th 1569, 1581-1582 [55 Cal.Rptr.2d 450]; People v. Souza (1993) 18 Cal.App.4th 549, 562-563 [22 Cal.Rptr.2d 264].) In either setting, the defendant must make his showing by a preponderance of the evidence, and the affidavit is presumed valid. The alleged material omission involves defendant's dream about the Kenny murder. Detective Heredia's affidavit did not mention it. Defendant contends this omission was material because the informant Decker gave conflicting reports of how he learned of the dream. (1) In the phone call, Decker mentioned the dream and reported that defendant told him of it. (2) In his interview with Detective Keers, Decker reported that he heard of the dream from Stephanie Compton. Defendant failed to make the required substantial showing that Detective Heredia omitted this information with the deliberate intention to create a false impression or with reckless disregard for the truth. The record reveals that Detective Heredia did not intentionally omit information concerning the dream from his affidavit. To the contrary, it establishes that he was unaware of it when he prepared the affidavit. At a subsequent hearing on defendant's motion to suppress his statements as involuntary, Detective Heredia was cross-examined by defense counsel concerning Decker's call. Heredia testified that he forwarded the message to Detective Keers without listening to most of it because he was leaving the office when he received it. He said that he did not recall anything about a dream. The only part of the message he recalled was the suspect's name, Social Security number, and place of employment. He listened to the entire message later, but only after the search warrant had been served. Moreover, including the conflicting information concerning the dream would not have undermined the showing of probable cause to issue the warrant. As we have earlier observed, Ricardo Decker, the citizen informant, gave Detective Keers a satisfactory explanation for the discrepancy: [H]e had participated in numerous conversations with defendant and Compton, `and he wasn't sure exactly who told him what portions.' Regardless of whether Decker learned of the alleged dream from defendant or through Compton, the dream supported the conclusion that there was probable cause to arrest defendant. (See ante, at pp. 475-476.) If anything, including the dream in the affidavit would have bolstered the showing of probable cause.