Opinion ID: 2055694
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Showing of the informant's reliability.

Text: The appellants contend the second prong of Aguilar was not satisfied because the informant (1) had not previously given information to law enforcement officers, so his reliability could not be established by past performance, and (2) was charged with a felony involving dishonesty at the time he gave the information, and this information was not presented to the magistrate. Thus, they argue, the magistrate was not advised as to sufficiently detailed underlying facts and circumstances necessary to establish his reliability. Although the underlying facts submitted could have been more detailed, that would be true of virtually every search-warrant record. As to the objection that the informant had no track record as an informant, we hold that this is not itself a prerequisite to establishing an informant's reliability. There has to be a first time for every informant, and in any event the tape-recorded testimony established facts tending to establish his reliability: some of the information was verified through another informant; Officer Knott had checked his information for approximately four weeks; another informant had given similar information to another officer; the informants did not know each other; and the other officer had told Officer Knott that his informant was reliable. See People v. Clark, 175 Colo. 446, 449, 488 P.2d 565, 567 (1971). While the failure to advise the magistrate of pending felony charges against the informant deprived the magistrate of some of the underlying facts affecting the informant's reliability, we cannot say that, when viewed with all of the other circumstances, this factor was sufficient to vitiate the proceeding, especially in view of Ventresca 's common-sense principles. The reliability of the informant was adequately established under the second segment of the Aguilar test. We find no error in the district court's judgment. AFFIRMED. All Justices concur except McCORMICK, J., who concurs specially.