Opinion ID: 204592
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: BACKGROUND The Gun Sale

Text: The circumstances of this action arise from activities on November 17, 2005. On that date, Detective Mersereau used a confidential informant to initiate the undercover sale of firearms, including three illegal assault weapons, to the Szajers at the gun shop. Detective Mersereau audibly monitored the operation, as it took place, through a body wire worn by the informant. The assault weapons, which required a special permit, included: (1) a Springfield M1A semiautomatic centerfire rifle with flash suppressor; (2) a Whitney Wolverine semiautomatic pistol that accepted a detachable magazine and a threaded barrel; and (3) a Reising submachine gun. The assault weapons were not registered to the informant. After Zoltan Szajer inspected the weapons, he initially offered the informant $1,800 for all three weapons. Shortly thereafter he told the informant he could not purchase the submachine gun because it may be an illegal weapon, and advised the informant to take that gun to the West Hollywood Sheriff's Department. When the informant refused, Zoltan Szajer offered to take the gun himself to the Sheriff's Department. The Szajers then purchased the other two weapons (the M1A assault rifle without the flash suppressor, which Zoltan Szajer had removed, and the Whitney Wolverine semiautomatic pistol) for $1,600, and the informant left the submachine gun with Zoltan Szajer. As soon as the informant left, Zoltan Szajer called the West Hollywood Sheriff's Department to request an officer pick up the submachine gun. While Szajer was on the phone, Defendant Mersereau and several other LAPD officers entered the gun shop and, based on the Szajers' purchase of two assault rifles and possession of the Reising submachine gun, detained the Szajers pending the application for a search warrant. Detective Mersereau then drafted an affidavit for a magistrate judge's review.