Opinion ID: 2999921
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: The Procurement and Execution of the Search

Text: Warrant On May 14, 2004, Detective John Atteberry of the Bloomington Police Department spoke with a confidential source (“CS 241”) about a marijuana-growing operation run by Taylor out of his home at 909 South East Street in Bloomington, Illinois. According to CS 241, Taylor started the operation fifteen years earlier and grew 150 to 200 plants each year at a property near Quincy, Illinois, resulting in an annual cash value of $500,000. CS 241 told Detective Atteberry that Taylor was presently growing 160 plants on his property beneath a tarp next to a boat and near a six-foot high fence. CS 241 also gave the detective a physical description of Taylor and his home. Following his conversation with CS 241, Detective Atteberry conducted drive-by surveillance of the property and observed a man matching Taylor’s description walk toward the front of the house. The detective also observed a boat in the back of the home covered by a white tarp. On May 24, 2004, Detective Atteberry watched No. 05-3819 3 CS 241 place a phone call to Taylor to confirm that the plants were still present at the property. That same day, Detective Atteberry appeared before a McLean County judge and presented a search warrant affidavit that included the above-recited information. The judge issued a search warrant, and Detective Atteberry executed it at Taylor’s home while Taylor’s wife was present. During the search, another detective, Kenneth Bays, discovered marijuana plants in Taylor’s backyard growing out of multiple styrofoam cups that filled four large containers, or flats, that were located between a fence and a boat. After the plants were removed from the property, Detective Bays generated a police report, stating that 1417 marijuana plants had been counted. Taylor, who was not home during the search, was later arrested and indicted for unlawful manufacture of and possession with intent to manufacture more than 1000 marijuana plants in violation of 21 U.S.C. §§ 841(a)(1) and 841(b)(1)(A). Taylor moved to quash the search warrant and suppress the evidence seized from his property on several grounds; however, only those pertinent to this appeal will be discussed in detail.1 First, Taylor alleged that Detective Atteberry deliberately and with reckless disregard for the truth omitted information from the warrant affidavit regarding informant CS 241’s criminal history, probation violations, drug usage, and cash pay- 1 Taylor also claimed in his motion to suppress that the police failed to properly “knock and announce” before entering Taylor’s home, see Wilson v. Arkansas, 514 U.S. 927 (1995), and that they obtained Taylor’s post-arrest statements in violation of his Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination, see Miranda v. Arizona, 384 U.S. 436 (1966). After testimony was heard on these issues at the motion to suppress hearing, the district court found no violation on these grounds. Taylor does not include these claims in his appeal. 4 No. 05-3819 ments from the Bloomington Police Department in exchange for providing information about Taylor’s case and others. According to Taylor, these omissions created “a false and misleading impression of CS 241’s credibility for the state court judge’s consideration of probable cause.” Second, Taylor took issue with Detective Atteberry’s description of CS 241, a documented informant with the Bloomington Police Department, as a “concerned citizen.” Lastly, Taylor complained that the phone call that CS 241 placed to Taylor to confirm the plants’ continued presence at his home was unrecorded and not heard directly by Detective Atteberry. After a preliminary review of Taylor’s motion to suppress, the district court determined that a hearing pursuant to Franks v. Delaware, 438 U.S. 154 (1978) was necessary to inquire into three issues concerning the warrant affidavit: (1) Detective Atteberry’s use of the term “concerned citizen” to describe CS 241, (2) the detective’s statement that CS 241 “has been and continues to be considered reliable,” and (3) the telephone call placed by CS 241 to Taylor about the marijuana plants.2