Opinion ID: 165472
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Whether Omissions Were Material

Text: Deputy Randall does not dispute that it is clearly established law that knowingly or recklessly omitting material information from an arrest affidavit violates the arrestee’s Fourth and Fourteenth Amendment rights. See Stewart v. Donges, 915 F.2d 572, 582-83 (10th Cir. 1990). Deputy Randall only argues that the omitted information was not material. To determine whether an omission is material, and thus violates the arrestee’s constitutional rights, we consider whether probable cause would exist if the information was included in the affidavit. Id. at 582 n.13. Deputy Randall contends that because the omitted information’s inclusion in the affidavit would not have vitiated probable cause, she did not violate Mr. Melessa’s constitutional rights. We disagree. Under Utah law, a person is guilty of witness tampering “if, believing that an official proceeding or investigation is pending or about to be instituted, or with the intent to prevent an official proceeding or investigation, he attempts to induce or otherwise cause another person to (a) testify or inform falsely; [or] (b) withhold any testimony, information, document, or item.” Utah Code Ann. § 76- -8- 8-508(1). Therefore, the offender must subjectively believe that an official proceeding or investigation is currently pending or will be initiated in the future, and he must induce false or incomplete testimony from a witness who may be called to testify or provide evidence concerning that proceeding or investigation. The arrest affidavit stated that Mr. Melessa had attempted to persuade Mr. McGregor to change his statement concerning the events he witnessed in connection with the alleged stalking of Mr. Melessa’s ex-wife. It also states that “[a]t the time of the incidents giving rise to the witness-tampering charge, the defendant had an outstanding bench warrant issued by the Justice Court relating to his June 1998 activities.” The affidavit, however, fails to note that the outstanding bench warrant was for the firearm citation, not for the stalking incident, and that Mr. McGregor was not a witness to the firearms violation. The affidavit also omits the fact that Mr. Melessa was given a letter from the Washington County Attorney’s Office, which stated that it “did not file criminal charges relating to Mr. Melessa’s actions on the 6th and 7th days of June, 1998.” Had the affidavit clearly specified that the bench warrant related to a firearm charge to which Mr. McGregor was not a witness, this statement would be insufficient to create probable cause. These omissions, therefore, are sufficient to vitiate probable cause for witness tampering. Moreover, had the arrest affidavit included the letter from the county -9- attorney’s office, the claim that Mr. Melessa believed an official proceeding or investigation was pending or about to be instituted regarding the alleged stalking would be seriously undermined. The letter clearly states that no charges were pending against Mr. Melessa and it refers to the entire sequence of events surrounding the alleged stalking as merely an “incident” rather than an “investigation.” We therefore conclude that had the letter been included in the affidavit, there would have been no probable cause to arrest Mr. Melessa for witness tampering because there would be no basis to conclude that Mr. Melessa believed an investigation or charge were pending or about to be instituted concerning the allegations of stalking. Even if we assume that Mr. Melessa was aware of the firearm charge pending against him, however, there would not be probable cause to arrest him for witness tampering because the alleged tampering did not concern this charge. Again, Deputy Randall omitted the fact that Mr. McGregor was not a witness to any event concerning the firearm charge and Mr. Melessa did not approach him about changing his statement about anything related to this charge. Thus, had this information been included in the affidavit, there would have been no probable cause to arrest Mr. Melessa for witness tampering involving the firearm charge because Mr. McGregor was not a witness to the incident. Deputy Randall counters that the fact that the crime under investigation is - 10 - different from the crime for which the alleged witness tampering occurred is insufficient to vitiate probable cause. In other words, Deputy Randall argues that witness tampering can occur when a person seeks to influence statements that are wholly unrelated to any investigation of, or charges pending against, that person. We conclude that Utah’s witness tampering statute cannot support Deputy Randall’s interpretation. As we noted above, a person is guilty of witness tampering if he subjectively believes that an official proceeding or investigation is currently pending or will be initiated in the future, and he must induce false or incomplete testimony from a witness who may be called to testify or provide evidence concerning that particular proceeding or investigation. See Utah Code Ann. § 76-8-508(1). Our interpretation is consistent with the application of this statute by the Utah Supreme Court, which has only considered witness tampering in the context of a witness with information relevant to the investigation. See State v. Bradley, 752 P.2d 874, 877 (Utah 1985) (affirming a witness tampering conviction where the defendant attempted to prevent a witness to a theft from involving herself with ongoing investigation concerning that theft). As such, we reject Deputy Randall’s argument that the omitted information would not vitiate probable cause because Mr. McGregor was a witness to the stalking and a bench warrant existed for the firearm charge. Because the omitted information was material, Deputy Randall is not entitled to qualified immunity on this basis. - 11 -