Opinion ID: 2607607
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: does the false information exception apply to the circumstances of this case?

Text: Prestwich asserts that he made a threshold showing that the information from the anonymous informants was false and that the police knew, or should have known, of its falsity. He argues that a simple, sincere observation of Prestwich's premises would have disclosed that the information provided by the anonymous callers could not have been true. The false information exception finds its origin in Franks v. Delaware, 438 U.S. 154, 98 S.Ct. 2674, 57 L.Ed.2d 667 (1978). See State v. Schaffer, 107 Idaho 812, 819, 693 P.2d 458, 465 (Ct.App. 1984). Franks has been applied by this Court in a case in which probable cause for the issuance of a search warrant was at issue. State v. Lindner, 100 Idaho 37, 592 P.2d 852 (1979). There, it was admitted that the information was false. The only issue was whether the officer knowingly and intentionally or recklessly included the information in the affidavit used to obtain the warrant. 100 Idaho at 41, 592 P.2d at 856. This Court held that there was not sufficient evidence to prove that the officer's mistake in including the information in the affidavit was intentional or with reckless disregard for the truth of the information. Here, questions have been raised as to both the falsity of the information and as to the officer's reckless disregard for the truth of the information. Franks established the standard for determining whether a threshold showing of falsity has been made: There must be allegations of deliberate falsehood or of reckless disregard for the truth, and those allegations must be accompanied by an offer of proof. They should point out specifically the portion of the warrant affidavit that is claimed to be false; and they should be accompanied by a statement of supporting reasons. Affidavits or sworn or otherwise reliable statements of witnesses should be furnished, or their absence satisfactorily explained. 438 U.S. at 171, 98 S.Ct. at 2684. Here, there are no allegations of deliberate falsehood. The essence of Prestwich's position is that the officer recklessly disregarded the lack of truth of information given by the second anonymous informant concerning: (1) the informant's wandering onto the premises in search for her lost dog, (2) the window through which the informant said she made observations, and (3) the identification of marijuana plants. Prestwich contends that it was inherently improbable that the informant could have wandered onto the premises looking for her lost dog, because of the presence of fierce dogs on the premises. Evidence was offered on remand that these dogs would have prevented access to the property and would have devoured the lost dog. However, the officer denied any knowledge of these fierce dogs and testified that the dogs were not present when the warrant was executed. The evidence here does not establish that it would have been impossible for the informant and her dog to have wandered onto the property or that the officer was reckless in accepting the truth of the informant's statement that they did so. Prestwich contends that it would not have been possible for the informant to have seen marijuana plants through the window because at the time of the search there was a covering over the window that obscured the inside of the shed where the plants were growing. However, no evidence was offered that this was the condition of the window when the informant made her observations. The State offered evidence that if the covering had not been over the window, an observer could have seen the marijuana plants through the window. We conclude that there was no proof as to the falsity of the information given by the informant or as to the recklessness of the officer in accepting it. Prestwich also contends that there was an inadequate showing that the informant could have identified the plants as being marijuana plants. However, the informant stated that she had taken a class in which she had learned how to identify marijuana plants. No proof was offered that this was false or that the officer was reckless in accepting it. In sum, we conclude that Prestwich did not make a threshold showing under the false information exception.