U.S. v. Merchant Diamond Group, Inc.
| Decision Date | 09 November 1977 |
| Docket Number | D,No. 336,336 |
| Citation | 565 F.2d 252 |
| Parties | UNITED STATES of America, Appellant, v. The MERCHANT DIAMOND GROUP, INC., Appellee. ocket 77-1278. |
| Court | U.S. Court of Appeals — Second Circuit |
Howard Weintraub, Washington, D. C. (Richard J. Arcara, U. S. Atty., W. D. N. Y., Buffalo, N. Y., Shirley Baccus-Lobel, Michael W. Farrell, Attys., Dept. of Justice, Washington, D. C., Lloyd George Parry, Sp. Atty., Buffalo Strike Force, Buffalo, N. Y., of counsel), for appellant.
Warren S. Radler, Buffalo, N. Y. (Saperston, Day & Radler, Buffalo, N. Y., Brian P. Fitzgerald, Buffalo, N. Y., of counsel), for appellee.
Before MULLIGAN and TIMBERS, Circuit Judges, and BONSAL, District Judge. *
The United States appeals from an order of the United States District Court for the Western District of New York entered on June 23, 1977 (Curtin, J.) granting the motion of appellee Merchant Diamond Group, Inc. for the return of its property pursuant to Rule 41(e) of the Federal Rules of Criminal Procedure.
Appellee is a Florida corporation engaged in the business of selling diamonds and is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Merchant Diamond Group, Ltd. ("MDG, Ltd."), a Canadian company with headquarters in Toronto. Commencing in April, 1977, property of appellee was seized pursuant to several search warrants based on an affidavit of Ronald Snyder, United States Postal Inspector, which contained information furnished him by the Royal Canadian Mounted Police ("RCMP"). Alleging that the information furnished to Snyder by the RCMP was inaccurate in various respects, appellee moved before Judge Curtin for the return of the property seized. Following a hearing, Judge Curtin ordered the return of the property by order entered on June 23, 1977.
The rule in this circuit seems to clearly provide that "(p)robable cause is not defeated because an informant may have erred or lied, 'as long as the affiant accurately represented what was told him'." Mapp v. Warden, New York State Correctional Institute for Women, 531 F.2d 1167, 1172-3 (2d Cir.), cert. denied, 429 U.S. 982, 97 S.Ct. 498, 50 L.Ed.2d 592 (1976), quoting United States v. Sultan, 463 F.2d 1066, 1070 (2d Cir. 1972); accord, Kahn v. Flood, 550 F.2d 784, 785 & n.2 (2d Cir. 1977). Here, the question is not whether RCMP in furnishing information to Snyder lied or erred, but whether Snyder accurately represented what was told him. Since RCMP, which had conducted a two-year investigation, was clearly a "reliable informant," Snyder was justified in relying on the information which had been furnished him. Hence, probable cause existed at the time the warrants were issued. See Aguilar v. Texas, 378 U.S. 108, 84 S.Ct. 1509, 12 L.Ed.2d 723 (1964): United States v. Perry, 380 F.2d 356, 358 (2d Cir.), cert. denied, 389 U.S. 943, 88 S.Ct. 307, 19 L.Ed.2d...
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