Opinion ID: 1180163
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 6

Heading: Challenging Arrest of the Informant

Text: Additional problems at the preliminary hearing involved two areas of law in which distinctions predicated on delicate lines have developed. By compelling disclosure of the informant because he is a material witness on the issue of guilt, we are able to avoid the first dispute: whether an informant's identity must be disclosed so that the defendant is able to challenge the legality of the informant's arrest. In Kaplan v. Superior Court, supra , we recently reaffirmed the vicarious exclusionary rule originally adopted in People v. Martin (1955) 45 Cal.2d 755 [290 P.2d 855]. That rule allows a defendant to attack the validity of a search or arrest of another, if relevant. It is obvious that the policy of deterring unlawful police conduct cannot be effectuated by means of the vicarious exclusionary rule if the defendant is barred from learning the identity of the witness who was illegally arrested or searched. However, we subject this topic to no further explication in view of our conclusion that in this instance the informant's identity must be disclosed because he may be a material witness on the question of defendant's guilt. The second conflict also involved the arrest of the informant and arose because defendant, not knowing the informant's identity, was unaware of all the circumstances surrounding his arrest. Not surprisingly, counsel for both sides argued in the dark as to whether evidence obtained from the informant was to be suppressed because it was the result of an illegal arrest or search ( People v. Martin, supra, 45 Cal.2d at pp. 759-761) or whether such evidence was to be admitted because the alleged impropriety, if any, was limited to a violation of the informant's Miranda rights ( People v. Varnum (1967) 66 Cal.2d 808, 813 [59 Cal. Rptr. 108, 427 P.2d 772]). The legal principles involved are relatively easy to distinguish; had the informant's identity been disclosed and the defendant apprised of all the facts surrounding the informant's arrest, it can be assumed that counsel for both sides would have argued with more lucidity as to whether Martin, on the one hand, or Varnum, on the other, applies to the case at bar. By compelling disclosure, our holding here should simplify subsequent disposition of this issue. Let a peremptory writ of prohibition issue restraining respondent court from conducting criminal proceedings in this matter until defendant is afforded relief consistent with the views hereinabove expressed.