Opinion ID: 624879
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: PVC Piping

Text: In her affidavit, Duncanson stated that the confidential informant told her about black PVC piping that was routed from the basement of Spears's home to the exterior of the residence. Spears alleges that Duncanson should have seen that there was, in fact, no such piping when she surveyed the house with the informant, and her failure to inform the court of this amounted to a Franks violation. The district court noted that photos admitted during the Franks hearing (well after the warrant was executed) made it seem[] clear that the informant was likely mistaken about there being PVC piping coming from the home. Regardless, the district court's focus was on what Duncanson knew at the time of the affidavit, not what the informant knew or thought, and the court credited Duncanson's testimony that she was unable to verify that there was black PVC piping during her observation because of the presence of two dogs. Spears does not point to anything besides those post-search images to attack the district court's finding. The photograph of the home submitted along with the affidavit does not so clearly show that no piping existed, and a person would not be reckless for failing to alert the court to the informant's error given that image. There is therefore no clear error in the district court's determination that Duncanson did not intentionally or recklessly fail to alert the court to the lack of PVC piping.