Opinion ID: 715823
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Statements Attributed to Henneberry

Text: 29 Agent Scott based his affidavit on statements allegedly made by Henneberry on April 27 that he had seen Hernandez sell drugs out of the garage. At the trial, Henneberry denied that he had seen Hernandez sell drugs out of the garage, but did not testify whether he had told Agent Scott on April 27 that Hernandez had so sold the drugs. The district court conducted a Franks hearing to determine whether Agent Scott had recounted truthfully Henneberry's statements in the search warrant application, or whether Henneberry's statements at trial indicated that Agent Scott had not been truthful in the application. 30 At the Franks hearing, Agent Scott testified that Henneberry made the statements attributed to him in the search warrant application. Agent Scott testified that Henneberry subsequently made inconsistent statements at trial because the prosecution had advised Henneberry to limit his testimony in order to avoid references to Hernandez's prior bad acts. Henneberry did not appear at the Franks hearing. The defense did not call Henneberry to deny that he made the statements attributed to him in the search warrant application, and the government did not call Henneberry to testify that he omitted references to Hernandez's prior bad acts at the direction of the prosecution. 31 At the conclusion of Agent Scott's testimony, the district court concluded that Agent Scott did not intentionally or recklessly include false information in the search warrant application. Whether false statements are intentional or reckless is a factual finding reviewed under the clearly erroneous standard. United States v. Dozier, 844 F.2d 701, 705 (9th Cir.) (as amended), cert. denied, 488 U.S. 927, 109 S.Ct. 312, 102 L.Ed.2d 331 (1988). 32 Hernandez had the burden of proving Agent Scott's perjury or reckless disregard of the truth by a preponderance of the evidence. Franks, 438 U.S. at 156, 98 S.Ct. at 2676-77. Thus, Hernandez was probably the one responsible for the decision not to call Henneberry as a witness at the Franks hearing. Further, the district court judge had heard Henneberry's testimony under oath at the trial and was able to evaluate that testimony in comparison with Agent Scott's testimony at the Franks hearing. Therefore, although it may have been preferable for Henneberry to testify at the Franks hearing, it was within the judge's power to decide that Henneberry's testimony was not credible without requiring Henneberry to repeat under oath that which he had just previously stated under oath at trial. Consequently, the district court did not clearly err in finding that Agent Scott did not deliberately or recklessly include false statements in the search warrant application. 33