Opinion ID: 2064579
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: The AGUILAR-SPINELLI Standards

Text: In cases where a probable cause determination is founded upon data supplied by an informant, rather than on observation by the arresting officer, our point of departure is the two-pronged test announced in Aguilar v. Texas, 378 U.S. 108, 114, 84 S.Ct. 1509, 12 L.Ed.2d 723 (1964), as elaborated in Spinelli v. United States, 393 U.S. 410, 413, 89 S.Ct. 584, 21 L.Ed.2d 637 et seq. (1969). This test must be applied to determine whether the informant's tip shall be deemed trustworthy to the point of establishing probable cause. First, a reviewing magistrate (in cases where warrants are sought) or the trial court (after warrantless searches and seizures) must be informed of some of the underlying circumstances from which the informant concluded that criminal activity was taking or had taken place. Aguilar v. Texas, supra, 378 U.S. at 114, 84 S.Ct. at 1514. Second, the judicial officer must be apprised of some of the underlying circumstances from which the officer concluded that the informant . . . was `credible' or his information `reliable.' In other words, Aguilar-Spinelli requires that when probable cause is to be justified by an informant's tip, it must be established by sufficient evidence (1) that the informant had a sound basis for his knowledge of the particular, reported criminal activity, and (2) that the informant himself is a truthful person. [4]
The record reveals that the informant's tip here was based on personal knowledge acquired by first-hand observation of appellant. Recall that according to Officer Mathis, the informant stated he saw Mr. Rutledge selling BAM. In addition to this direct evidence of the informant's personal knowledge of the crime, the record provides indirect evidence of the first-hand nature of his knowledge, namely his detailed, accurate description of the appellant's appearance and location. The courts have reasoned that if an informant's report contains detailed, current information, it is probably based on first-hand perception. [5] See Spinelli, supra, 393 U.S. at 416, 89 S.Ct. 584; Rushing v. United States, D.C.App., 381 A.2d 252, 255 (1977); Nance v. United States, D.C.App., 377 A.2d 384, 387 (1977); Waldron v. United States, D.C. App., 370 A.2d 1372, 1373 (1977); Mitchell v. United States, D.C.App., 368 A.2d 514, 516 (1977). See also United States v. Malcolm, D.C.App., 331 A.2d 329 (1975). Such personal observations of a criminal act are the most frequently endorsed ground for finding an informant's report to be soundly based. See Aguilar, supra, 378 U.S. at 113, 84 S.Ct. 1509; Spinelli, supra, 393 U.S. at 416, 89 S.Ct. 584; Rushing v. United States, supra, 381 A.2d at 255-56, 257 n.5; Nance v. United States, supra ; Smith v. United States, D.C.App., 348 A.2d 891, 892 (1975). Our duty is to view the evidence in a commonsense and realistic fashion. United States v. Ventresca, 380 U.S. 102, 108, 85 S.Ct. 741, 746, 13 L.Ed.2d 684 (1965). We conclude that a trustworthy basis of the informant's knowledge is revealed by the record; the first Aguilar-Spinelli criterion is satisfied. We turn, therefore, to the second stage of evaluation: whether the informant himself could be considered credible.
The question is, whether it was reasonable  or not  for the arresting officer to conclude, when the informant reported the criminal enterprise, that he was probably telling the truth. United States v. Harris, 403 U.S. 573, 590, 91 S.Ct. 2075, 29 L.Ed.2d 723 (1971) (Harlan, J., dissenting). [6] In answering this question, our focus must be on the extent to which the policemen who received the tip and effected the arrest were aware of the informant's credibility; we are not concerned with credibility factors known to other, uninvolved officials. When Officer Mathis received the phone call from the newly enlisted informant, he was aware that the informant expected remuneration for his services. The government points to this economic interest as an indication of reliability  of an incentive to tell the truth. We are not persuaded by this argument. We agree with this court's previous conclusion that the expectation of reward for services is an ambiguous variable which very well could furnish reason to be honest and accurate  in the hope of being utilized again  or, conversely, reason to distort or fabricate, in order to earn at least one payment. Rushing v. United States, supra, 381 A.2d at 255 n.3. See Nance v. United States, supra, 377 A.2d at 389. Nothing in the record demonstrates that this particular informant's financial motivation probably would have yielded trustworthy information. The government next points out two other factors said to indicate credibility: the informant's service to the police was voluntary, and he had no criminal history. By citing the volunteer nature of the informant's service, the government apparently hopes to bring its case within the principal that an unpaid citizen informant is considered prima facie a more credible source than a paid police informant, Rushing v. United States, supra, 381 A.2d at 255, who should be viewed with skepticism. Nance v. United States, supra, 377 A.2d at 389. From the standpoint of credibility, however, we perceive that the first-time, volunteer, paid informer is much closer to the typical paid police informant than to the ordinary, unrewarded citizen. At best, the fact that the informant sought such employment tells us nothing about his honesty. As to the informant's lack of a criminal record, we observe that although criminal conduct may reflect negatively upon credibility and reliability, it does not follow that lack of a criminal history necessarily bodes well for veracity. In other words, the absence of evidence of past untruthfulness is of little, if any, aid in assessing present truthfulness. In any event, the record makes clear that Detective Mathis and his fellow officers knew nothing for good or ill about the informant's criminal past. Sergeant Ware, who was absent at the time of the tip and arrest, was the one who had elicited the criminal background information from the informer. See note 1 supra. Thus, the arresting officers' credibility evaluation, as a factual matter, could not have rested upon appellant's lack of a criminal record. [7] Finally, we must consider whether, despite insufficient evidence of the informant's general credibility, the arresting officers' confirmation of the informant's description of appellant and his location was enough in itself to satisfy the veracity requirement. The cases make clear that this requirement can be met solely by reference to police confirmation of the details reported by the informant indicating criminality; i. e., by the policemen's witnessing suspicious activity which  while not necessarily itself constituting probable cause  corroborates the informant's report of criminal activity to an extent that determination of his reliability need not depend on independent evidence of his general credibility. See Spinelli, supra, 393 U.S. at 426-27, 89 S.Ct. 584 (White, J., concurring); Rushing v. United States, supra, 381 A.2d at 255; Nance v. United States, supra, 377 A.2d at 389; Waldron v. United States, supra, 370 A.2d at 1373; Mitchell v. United States, supra, 368 A.2d at 519 (Kern, J., concurring). Given this approach, with sufficient corroboration of suspicious activity, even an informant who had not otherwise been proved credible could meet the veracity requirement. In the present case, however, the police, upon arriving at the scene, only confirmed appellant's description and location. See Part II.A. supra; they did not observe any suspicious activity. They merely saw appellant with another man, who left abruptly. See note 3 supra. Confirmation of a suspect's apparently innocent activity at the reported scene, while helping establish the informant's basis of knowledge  and even, perhaps, enhancing the informant's credibility  is inadequate for determining the reliability of the informant's statement that a crime had been committed. Nance v. United States, supra, 377 A.2d at 389. The cases cited by the government all disclose something more than mere corroboration of innocent activity. Most often they cite evidence of the informant's reliable performance in the past. See Draper v. United States, 358 U.S. 307, 79 S.Ct. 329, 3 L.Ed.2d 327 (1958) (paid informant had proved accurate and reliable previously); Waldron v. United States, supra (officer knew that informant had performed well for other officers in the past); Mitchell v. United States, supra (officers informed by fellow officer of five previously reliable incidents; and inculpatory detail  possession of a gun  confirmed prior to arrest); Smith v. United States, supra (informant had proved reliable in the past); United States v. Malcolm, supra (informant previously had provided officer with accurate information). In summary, in the present case the police officers conceded that this newly hired informer had no performance record; he was writing upon a blank veracity slate. Furthermore, the police did not personally confirm, prior to arrest, that appellant was engaging in suspicious activity; they corroborated only innocent details of the informant's report. Absent additional indications of credibility or reliability, we cannot conclude that the second, veracity criterion of the Aguilar-Spinelli test for probable cause has been met. [8]