Opinion ID: 15662
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 5

Heading: identification of confidential informant

Text: 55 Police first identified Chopane as a suspect based on information from a confidential informant who indicated that Chopane had participated in several robberies in the area. Acting on this tip, the police placed Chopane's picture in a photo lineup. Apparently, the confidential informant had no involvement in Chopane's crimes; he merely passed on information he had acquired in the community. Chopane contends on appeal that the trial court erred in failing to provide him with the identity of the informant, so as to allow Chopane to prepare his defense. 56 In Roviaro v. United States, 353 U.S. 53, 60, 77 S.Ct. 623, 1 L.Ed.2d 639 (1957), the Supreme Court recognized that the Government possesses a privilege to keep confidential the names of informants, but that this privilege should yield, under certain circumstances, to a defendant's due process rights. This circuit has crafted a three-part test in the wake of Roviaro to determine whether disclosure of a confidential informant's identity is necessary. We examine: 1) the informant's degree of involvement in the crime; 2) the helpfulness of the disclosure to the defense; and 3) the Government's interest in nondisclosure. See United States v. Sanchez, 988 F.2d 1384, 1391 (5th Cir.1993). As to the first prong, we have held that mere tipsters are not so closely related to a crime as to require the disclosure of their identity. See United States v. Cooper, 949 F.2d 737, 749 (5th Cir.1991). Here, the evidence supported the conclusion that the confidential information was simply a tip. Second, Chopane has demonstrated no need for the informant's identity; as the informant was merely passing a tip, and his tip was not relied upon at trial to convict Chopane, that tip could not foreseeably assist Chopane in his defense. Third, the district court had some evidence that Chopane was dangerous. Evidence at a pretrial hearing on Chopane's motion to disclose the informant's identity included photographs recovered by law enforcement showing Chopane pointing a sawed-off shotgun at the camera and holding a pistol to his own head. This evidence gives rise to a legitimate concern that the informant's life might be jeopardized were his identity revealed. We therefore conclude that the district court did not abuse its discretion in denying Chopane's motion to reveal the identity of the informant. 57