U.S. v. Canfield

• Decision Date: 01 August 1999
• Docket Number: Docket No. 99-1527
• Citation: 212 F.3d 713
• Parties: (2nd Cir. 2000) UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, Appellant, v. RYAN CANFIELD, Defendant-Appellee
• Court: U.S. Court of Appeals — Second Circuit

Page 713

212 F.3d 713 (2nd Cir. 2000)

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, Appellant, v. RYAN CANFIELD, Defendant-Appellee.

Docket No. 99-1527

August Term, 1999

UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE SECOND CIRCUIT

Argued: February 10, 2000

Decided: May 17, 2000

The government appeals the order of the United States District Court for the District of Connecticut suppressing evidence obtained against defendant-appellee Ryan Canfield. The district court found that the affidavit in support of the search warrant contained inaccurate information and that the remaining portions of the affidavit did not support probable cause. We disagree and vacate the district court's suppression order on the grounds that the inaccurate information was not material to the probable cause determination. The remaining portions of the affidavit were sufficient to support probable cause.

NANCY V. GIFFORD, Assistant United States Attorney, District of Connecticut, New Haven, CT (Stephen C. Robinson, United States Attorney, Anthony E. Kaplan, Assistant United States Attorney, District of Connecticut, New Haven, CT, of counsel), for Appellant.

TERENCE S. WARD, Assistant Federal Public Defender, Hartford, CT (Thomas G Dennis, Federal Public Defender, Hartford, CT, of counsel), for Appellee.

Before: MESKILL, WALKER and CALABRESI, Circuit Judges.

MESKILL, Circuit Judge:

The government appeals the order of the United States District Court for the District of Connecticut suppressing evidence obtained against defendant-appellee Ryan Canfield. After holding a hearing, the district court identified erroneous statements and omissions in the affidavit in support of the search warrant and concluded, based on the totality of the circumstances, that the remaining portions of the search warrant lacked probable cause. Upon review of the affidavit, we hold that any inaccuracies were not material to the probable cause determination. We vacate the suppression order and remand to the district court.

BACKGROUND

On February 22, 1999, Meriden Police Detective Salafia received an unsolicited tip that Canfield was manufacturing counterfeit United States currency. Detective Salafia alerted Special Agent Ornato of the United States Secret Service and, after some independent investigation, they drafted an affidavit in order to obtain a search warrant to search Canfield's father's house, located at 37 Carey Avenue in Meriden, Connecticut. Except as noted below, the affidavit contains the relevant facts for this appeal. It stated, in pertinent part:

3. That on 02/22/99 a Concerned/Confidential Witness came to the Meriden Police Department to speak to Det. Sgt. Dickson. That at this time this witness stated that a Ryan Canfield was manufacturing counterfeit U.S. currency. That at this time the witness produced two sheets of paper with three twenty dollar bills on each piece. That information was obtained from this person that Ryan Canfield was producing this U.S. currency at his fathers' [sic] house at 37 Carey Ave., Meriden, Connecticut. That other information was obtained that this U.S. Currency was being manufactured on a computer, printer and a copier.

4. That information was also obtained that there are four to five males and one female involved in this and also narcotics. That this witness also stated that these individuals have narcotics present while they are manufacturing the U.S. currency. That according to this witness narcotics like acid, mushrooms, and ecstasy are present during the manufacturing of the counterfeit U.S. currency.

5. That on 02/23/99 this Confidential/Concerned Witness was interviewed to obtain more information concerning the manufacturing of U.S. Currency. The witness observed numerous sheets of money that were continuously being printed off the computer/copier over a long period of time on 02/21/99. That this witness overheard conversations that the individuals involved would be taking the counterfeit U.S. currency to Rhode Island and Boston. That according to the witness Ryan Canfield does not stay at 37 Carey Ave. but lives at 1175 Hanover Avenue, Meriden, Connecticut. The witness has knowledge of Ryan Canfield bringing narcotics and counterfeit U.S. currency back and forth from 37 Carey Ave. and 1175 Hanover Ave. Meriden, Connecticut.

6. That during this investigation this affiant spoke to Det. Trevor Thorpe concerning Ryan Canfield. That Det. Thorpe is involved in an ongoing investigation as of right now concerning drugs and the fact that Ryan Canfield is selling drugs. That Det. Thorpe then filled these affiants in as far as his investigation. That in fact he knows that Ryan Canfield is going to 37 Carey Ave. where his father lives. That Det. Thorpe obtained information from a reliable informant that Ryan Canfield is keeping drugs inside of 37 Carey Ave and 1175 Hanover Ave. That his investigation revealed that Ryan Canfield is selling drugs out of 1175 Hanover Ave. That this reliable informant also told Det. Thorpe that there is a stolen Saab behind the house that Ryan Canfield lives at, which is 1175 Hanover Ave.

7. That these affiants along with Det. Trevor Thorpe proceeded to both locations 37 Carey Ave. and 1175 Hanover Ave. That at 1175 Hanover Ave. there are two Saabs behind the house that appear to be in the process of being stripped. That these affiants corroborated the fact that 1175 Hanover Ave. is the address that Ryan Canfield receives mail by police in-house records and Department of Motor Vehicle records.

On February 23, 1999, Detective Salafia and Special Agent Ornato presented the affidavit to the Honorable Ronald J. Fracasse of the Connecticut Superior Court. Judge Fracasse signed the search warrant authorizing law enforcement officers to search 37 Carey Avenue and Canfield for counterfeit U.S. currency, paper, ink, computer equipment, records and any other equipment used to manufacture counterfeit U.S. currency. On February 24, 1999, the search took place. Among the items recovered from 37 Carey Avenue were a laptop computer, a color printer, a scanner, rubber gloves and a black backpack containing $2,930 in counterfeit U.S. currency. Canfield was later arrested and indicted on one count of counterfeiting U.S. currency in violation of 18 U.S.C. §471.

On May 25, 1999, Canfield filed a motion to suppress the evidence obtained pursuant to the search warrant. Canfield also sought to suppress statements he made after the search. When the government decided that it would not introduce the statements, Canfield withdrew that portion of his motion. In the supporting memorandum, Canfield claimed that the affidavit was misleading in three respects. First, the Saab described by the second "reliable informant" (CI-2) in paragraphs 6 and 7 was not stolen. Second, Canfield's residence at 1175 Hanover Avenue (not the searched premises) was not a "house," but an apartment building. Third, the "Concerned/Confidential witness" (CI-1) had a criminal record. Based on these inaccuracies, he argued that the search warrant lacked probable cause.

On July 19, 1999, the district court held a hearing on the matter. Two witnesses were called. The first, Ms. Darcey Beausoleil, an investigator with the Federal Public Defender's Office, testified that she had been to 1175 Hanover Avenue and that it was an apartment building with six units. She produced pictures of the building indicating that there were multiple units. Next, Special Agent Ornato testified that he was aware of CI-1's criminal background, but that it did not contain any perjury or false statement convictions and that it did not have a bearing on CI-1's veracity. He also testified that he did not check to see whether the Saab behind 1175 Hanover Avenue was stolen because he did not want to compromise the investigation by inspecting the vehicle's identification number, which would have been necessary because it did not have any license plates. Further, he did not think it was relevant.

At the conclusion of the hearing, the district court ruled orally that the evidence would be suppressed. The court observed that "neither informant has any history of past reliability with the investigating officers, so it comes down to what can be corroborated." The district court made six findings: (1) the affidavit was unclear as to whether the sheets produced by CI-1 were actually counterfeit, (2) CI-1 did not provide a description of the building at 37 Carey Avenue for purposes of corroboration, (3) CI-1 provided no detail as to the counterfeit manufacturing process, (4) CI-2 did not corroborate CI-1, (5) there was no corroboration of CI-2's assertion that Canfield's father lived at 37 Carey Avenue, and (6) the affiants did not corroborate CI-2's assertion that the Saab was indeed stolen, when a simple check with the Motor Vehicle Department would have determined that Canfield owned a Saab. The district court concluded that probable cause was lacking based on the "totality of the circumstances." On July 30, 1999, the government filed a motion to reconsider the ruling. In the supporting memorandum, the government argued that the court failed to give deference to the issuing judge's determination of probable cause, that the six findings of the district court were erroneous, and that the district court failed to consider the good faith exception to the exclusionary rule. On August 9, 1999, the district court granted the motion for reconsideration, but ruled that "[t]he court's conclusion has not changed." The government filed a timely notice of appeal and a certification pursuant to 18 U.S.C. §3731 that the appeal is not taken for purposes of delay and that the evidence is substantial proof of facts material in the proceedings. Canfield is currently at liberty.

DISCUSSION

The government presents the following arguments on appeal. First, there were no inaccuracies in the affidavit and that the district court erroneously reviewed the warrant de novo. Even if there were inaccuracies in...