Opinion ID: 618647
Heading Depth: 4
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: A Material Omission

Text: We review de novo the district court's conclusion that Tanore's omission of Javier Jr.'s custody status was not material to a finding of probable cause. See id.; Butler, 281 F.3d at 1024 (Materiality is for the court. . . . (citing Hervey v. Estes, 65 F.3d 784, 789 (9th Cir.1995))). To determine the materiality of omitted facts, we consider whether the affidavit, once corrected and supplemented, establishes probable cause. Ewing, 588 F.3d at 1224; accord Liston, 120 F.3d at 973. If probable cause remains after amendment, then no constitutional error has occurred. See Ewing, 588 F.3d at 1224; Liston, 120 F.3d at 973-74. Here, the affidavit on its face easily established a fair probability that the evidence sought would be found, had Javier Jr. actually resided at the Bravo residence. See Illinois v. Gates, 462 U.S. 213, 238, 103 S.Ct. 2317, 76 L.Ed.2d 527 (1983). Tanore verified that the Bravo home was Javier Jr.'s last-known residence based on DMV records, prior search warrants, SBSO records, and the confidential informants' personal knowledge. See Liston, 120 F.3d at 973 (finding that the utility records, officer surveillance, and DMV records included in a warrant application ordinarily would have provided a sufficient basis for establishing probable cause). Furthermore, Tanore permissibly relied on the witnesses' confidential information regarding the Tangas' practice of storing weapons for one another, which was consistent with his own expertise and knowledge of the gang's operations. Finally, Tanore had probable cause to believe Javier Jr. was affiliated with the Tangas based not only on the confidential informants' tips, but also on SBSO records verifying Javier Jr.'s criminal history in connection with other Tangas gang members. The district court therefore properly rejected the Bravos' alternative argument that, even absent judicial deception, the warrant lacks sufficient indicia of reliability and is facially invalid due to lack of particularity. Nonetheless, we must ask whether probable cause remains once the affidavit is supplemented with the challenged omission  here, Javier Jr.'s two-year sentence imposed over six months prior to the incident occasioning the search warrant, and his consequent incarceration in state prison at the time of the drive-by shooting and of the warrant's execution. We conclude that the corrected affidavit could not establish probable cause for the search and especially does not meet the heightened standard of justification required for nighttime SWAT service. [4] The district court reasoned that Javier Jr.'s presence was immaterial because the warrant was not for his arrest but only to search for evidence related to the April 21 shooting. This fact, however, was highly material to the search, which authorized the seizure of evidence relating to the April 21 shooting. Javier Jr.'s custody status meant not only that he would not be present in the Bravo residence at the time of the search, but that he could not have been involved in the shooting or in concealing the evidence. Tanore had no evidence that Mr. and Mrs. Bravo or E.B. were involved in the April 21 shooting or that during a period in which Javier Jr. was not residing in their home they would have assisted Tangas gang members in concealing evidence, and specifically in concealing evidence from the shooting. The generalized statements in the affidavit that it is common for families of gang members to assist other members of the gang are insufficient to support probable cause to search the Bravos' home. See United States v. Rodgers, 656 F.3d 1023, 1030-31 (9th Cir.2011) (stating that an assumption that most sixteen-year-old passengers have identification does not lead to probable cause to search every car carrying a teenager absent some individualized suspicion regarding the teenager, the vehicle in question, and the crime at issue); United States v. McCarty, 648 F.3d 820, 830 (9th Cir.2011) (Searches and seizures are ordinarily unreasonable in the absence of individualized suspicion of wrongdoing, and the circumstances under which a warrantless search not supported by probable cause may be considered reasonable under the Fourth Amendment are very limited.) (internal quotation marks and citations omitted). Moreover, the warrant also authorized the search of any and all firearms, ammunition, casings, cartridges, cleaning equipment, or scabbard of any type of firearm found on the premises during the warrant's execution, and any indicia of gang membership or affiliation with any gang, including writings, photographs, news clippings, or videos depicting persons, vehicles, weapons, clothing, handsigns, or locations appearing relevant to gang membership. Defendants' only basis for seizing indicia of gang association and weapons other than the caliber handguns suspected of use in the drive-by shooting was to gather evidence of Javier Jr.'s suspected violation of California Penal Code § 186.22(a) (Street Terrorism Enforcement and Prevention Act). That statutory provision makes guilty of a felony any person who actively participates in any criminal street gang with knowledge that its members engage in or have engaged in a pattern of criminal gang activity, and who willfully promotes, furthers, or assists in any felonious criminal conduct by members of that gang, as defined in § 186.22(f). Cal.Penal Code § 186.22(a). Probable cause must support the search for and seizure of all items described in the warrant. See Millender, 620 F.3d at 1024. Tanore had no evidence that Mr. and Mrs. Bravo or E.B. were gang members of any kind. Probable cause to search broadly for any and all guns, ammunition, and indicia of gang affiliation therefore was predicated entirely on Javier Jr.'s own suspected involvement in hiding weapons for other gang members. Furthermore, once the affidavit was corrected and supplemented with the missing information about Javier Jr.'s custody status, even if we were to conclude that cause existed for a search, there would still be no basis for authorizing nighttime service. A nighttime incursion by a SWAT force is a far more serious occurrence than an ordinary daytime intrusion pursuant to a regular warrant and therefore requires higher justification beyond mere probable cause to search. See United States v. Colonna, 360 F.3d 1169, 1176 (10th Cir.2004) ([T]he mere likelihood that drugs or weapons will be found at a particular premises does not justify a no-knock or nighttime execution of a search warrant.). Were this not the case, then any showing of probable cause to search would justify nighttime intrusion by a team of SWAT officers. The Supreme Court has held clearly that a no-knock entry is justified only by exigent circumstances, which include when officers have a reasonable suspicion that knocking and announcing their presence, under the particular circumstances, would be dangerous or futile, or that it would inhibit the effective investigation of the crime by, for example, allowing the destruction of evidence. Richards v. Wisconsin, 520 U.S. 385, 394, 117 S.Ct. 1416, 137 L.Ed.2d 615 (1997). We see no reason not to apply the same standard to SWAT officers' nighttime searches, which both constitute much greater intrusions on one's privacy than ordinary daytime searches and carry a much higher risk of injury to persons and property. See Alexander v. City & Cnty. of San Francisco, 29 F.3d 1355, 1367 (9th Cir.1994) (explaining that a jury might conclude that deployment of a SWAT team for the purpose of inspecting property was excessive); Estate of Smith v. Marasco, 430 F.3d 140, 149 (3d Cir.2005) ([A] decision to employ a SWAT-type team can constitute excessive force if it is not objectively reasonable to do so in light of the totality of the circumstances. (internal quotation marks omitted)); Holland ex rel. Overdorff v. Harrington, 268 F.3d 1179, 1190 (10th Cir.2001) ([T]he decision to deploy a SWAT team to execute a warrant must be `reasonable' because it largely determines how the seizure is carried out, thereby determining the extent of the intrusion on the individual's Fourth Amendment interests.); Rush v. Mansfield, 771 F.Supp.2d 827, 858-59 (N.D.Ohio 2011); Solis v. City of Columbus, 319 F.Supp.2d 797, 808-09 (S.D.Ohio 2004). Had Javier Jr.'s incarceration been disclosed and probable cause for a search still existed, no reasonable cause for nighttime service would have remained under the totality of the circumstances. Defendants argue that disclosing Javier Jr.'s two-year sentence would not be dispositive of his custody status because presentence credits and good time or work credits might have resulted in an earlier release date. But the appropriate inquiry is not whether Javier Jr.'s two-year sentence dispositively established he was still in custody, but rather whether that fact would have prompted the issuing judge to requir[e] additional information or impos[e] specific restrictions on [the warrant's] execution. Liston, 120 F.3d at 974. In Liston, the Court found that an officer's failure to disclose in a search warrant application the presence of For Sale and Sold signs on the target property constituted a material omission. Although the signs on their own may not have established dispositively that the house belonged to new owners, they would have put a reasonable magistrate on notice that a change in occupancy would be occurring in the near future. Id. Similarly here, disclosure of Javier Jr.'s two-year sentence would have put the issuing judge on notice that Javier Jr. could still be in custody. Had the omitted facts of Javier Jr.'s two-year sentence and custody status been included, it is extremely doubtful that an issuing judge would simply have issued the warrant or authorized nighttime service without more information. See id. Finally, the defendants' reliance on Motley v. Parks, 432 F.3d 1072 (9th Cir.2005) (en banc), is misplaced. Motley did not hold that custody status is immaterial to whether officers have probable cause to search a person's residence; indeed, probable cause to search was not at issue in that case. Motley held only that where a parolee has consented to warrantless searches of his residence and property at any time as a condition of his parole, law enforcement has a constitutional obligation to ensure they have probable cause to believe they are at the right house. Id. at 1079-80. Javier Jr. was not a parolee, and no resident of the Bravo home consented to a warrantless search. Motley therefore does not absolve defendants of their constitutional obligation to establish probable cause to search for all items described in the search warrant.