Opinion ID: 444031
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: Intentional or Reckless Omission

Text: 51 In Franks v. Delaware, 438 U.S. 154, 155-56, 98 S.Ct. 2674, 2676, 57 L.Ed.2d 667 (1978), the Supreme Court held that a defendant may have false statements excised from a search warrant affidavit if he shows that the affiant made the false statements intentionally or with reckless disregard for the truth. The determinations that the statements were false and that the affiant made them intentionally or recklessly resolve questions of fact, which we review under the clearly erroneous standard. United States v. Snowadzki, 723 F.2d 1427, 1429 (9th Cir.1984) (findings of fact at suppression hearing are reviewed under clearly erroneous standard). Although the district court denied Roberts's motion to suppress, it did not explicitly decide whether DEA Agent Moriarty deliberately or recklessly omitted material from the affidavit that would have negated probable cause. Nevertheless, deciding this issue de novo, we agree with the district court's denial of Roberts's motion to suppress.
52 Roberts argues that Agent Yarborough knew that a surge in electrical consumption, normally caused by indoor marijuana growing operations, did not occur at Roberts's residence, but omitted this information from the underlying affidavit. Even assuming that Roberts may attack the warrant because of an omission, 9 he nevertheless failed to produce sufficient evidence to show that either Yarborough or Moriarty intentionally or recklessly omitted the information on the lack of power surge. 10 Moreover, even if included in the affidavit, such information would not be sufficient to negate probable cause. 11 The absence of a noticeable increase in energy consumption is not critical because the record shows that a clever grower could bypass the meter and prevent the electric company from recording the increase. 53 For these reasons, we find no error in the admission of evidence obtained from Roberts's residence even though the warrant affidavit omitted information relating to the absence of a power surge. 54