Opinion ID: 789741
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Events Leading to the January 21, 1998 Search

Text: 6 On August 24, 1997, Kevin Sullivan was beaten to death at the Pink Poodle nightclub in San Jose. Linderman of the Santa Clara County Sheriff's Office led the murder investigation. He ultimately determined that Steve Tausan, one of the nightclub's bouncers and a member of the San Jose Charter of the Hells Angels Motorcycle Club (SJHA), committed the crime. 2 Linderman also suspected other SJHA members and associates of concealing evidence of the murder. 3 7 The District Attorney's Office charged Tausan with the murder of Kevin Sullivan. On October 6, 1997, Linderman applied for a warrant to search the SJHA clubhouse and the residences of various individuals alleged to be affiliated with the Hells Angels. On the basis of Linderman's 27-page affidavit and the testimony of confidential informants, Santa Clara County Superior Court Judge John Ball issued the search warrants on the same day, authorizing a search of the clubhouse and the individual residences for a security videotape depicting the beating of Sullivan, financial records connecting the Hells Angels to the Pink Poodle, and notes of a Hells Angels meeting held five nights after the killing. Police investigative officers recovered meeting minutes after several exhaustive searches, but failed to find the alleged videotape. 4 8 In January 1998, the District Attorney's Office sought a second set of search warrants for nine residences and the SJHA clubhouse. In support of the application for the second set of warrants, Linderman submitted a 24-page affidavit, which incorporated his October 6, 1997 affidavit. Judge Ball issued the warrants as requested on January 20, 1998. The ten warrants were substantially identical except for the location and the name of the resident. The second set of warrants again authorized the seizure of a copy of the security videotape, and notes or records of a Hells Angels meeting held on the Friday following the murder of Sullivan. 5 Judge Ball also authorized a search for evidence that showed indicia of Hells Angels affiliation, including any evidence of membership in, affiliation with, activity of, or identity of, any gang, including but not limited to, any reference to `Hells Angels.' The purpose of this provision in the warrants was to obtain evidence supporting a street gang sentencing enhancement against Tausan under California Penal Code § 186.22 because, allegedly, the murder had been committed in furtherance of the criminal conduct of the Hells Angels gang. 9 Prior to the January 1998 searches, the Sheriff's Office had arranged for assistance from multiple law enforcement agencies, including the San Jose City Police Department. There were two types of law-enforcement teams that assisted with the execution of the warrants. First, entry teams composed of San Jose City police officers were used to enter the premises surrounding the residences and secure safe entry into the residences. Once the location was secured, search teams composed only of officers from the Sheriff's Office were to conduct the searches and take possession of property covered by the warrant. Leaders of the entry teams were given approximately one-week advance notice of the action in order to prepare for the searches. 10 At 7:00 a.m. on the morning of January 21, 1998, teams of law enforcement officers simultaneously served the search warrants at residences of members of the Hells Angels in various parts of Santa Clara and Santa Cruz counties. It is the conduct of the law enforcement personnel in carrying out these searches under the second set of warrants that gave rise to plaintiffs' claims. 6