Informant was considered reliable because of his track record and a lie to the officer would have adversely affected his own case

The confidential informant had a good track record with the officer, and he had every incentive to be truthful to the officer because he had a case pending of his own that would be adversely affected by a lie. Fleming v. United States, 923 A.2d 830 (D.C. App. 2007):

Here, not only was the unpaid informant known to Officer Wooden, but on two prior occasions his information had resulted in arrests. Moreover, the informant spoke from personal knowledge and direct observations, referring to the defendant by the name “Tray,” specifying the precise place where he could be found, providing a detailed description, including type of clothes and shoes worn, racial identity, and describing his haircut. The informant was not paid and hence had no reason to lie to gain monetary payment. See Rutledge v. United States, 392 A.2d 1062, 1066 (D.C. 1978). Nor did he or she have incentive to lie to obtain drugs, because the informant did not use drugs. And, he or she understood that if false information were given to Officer Wooden, that could have an impact on his own sentencing in a pending criminal matter. Under these circumstances, we agree with the trial judge that the informant was reliable and the information he gave to Officer Wooden was sufficiently detailed to provide the police with reasonable articulable suspicion that criminal activity was unfolding, thus justifying an investigatory stop of Mr. Fleming under Terry v. Ohio, 392 U.S. 1 (1968); see also Wilson v. United States, 802 A.2d 367, 369 (D.C. 2002); Gomez v. United States, 597 A.2d 884, 888 (D.C. 1991).

Good track record of the informant was probable cause. McTaggart v. State, 285 Ga. App. 178, 645 S.E.2d 658 (2007):

McTaggart also claims the affidavit supporting the warrant contained insufficient facts to establish the reliability of the informant. However, the affidavit attached to the search warrant does set forth sufficient facts to establish the reliability of the informant. The affidavit states that the confidential informant “has given information in the past that has lead to at least 5 search warrants” and seven or eight arrests. Further, it states the informant “has been an informant for more than 10 years and has provided numerous amounts of intelligence information that has proven reliable in the past.” These statements were sufficient to establish the reliability of the informant.

Flight from officers in a high crime area where there were apparent drug sales going on was reasonable suspicion. United States v. Adderly, 2007 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 30430 (E.D. Pa. April 24, 2007).*

Defense counsel’s failure to assert a futile Fourth Amendment claim did not prejudice the defendant. Garvey v. State, 925 A.2d 503 (Del. 2007).*

Defendant was stopped and vehicle had several guns visible in it. After a search for officer safety, the defendant said something that made the officer believe that there was yet another gun, and that permitted a further search. State v. McManemy, 2007 Iowa App. LEXIS 518 (January 31, 2007):

Officer Woodley’s initial observations while riding in his patrol car gave him reason to believe McManemy was violating weapons laws and posed a risk to public safety. After stopping his patrol vehicle to investigate, Woodley determined McManemy was carrying a loaded weapon. He took the weapon from the defendant and unloaded it. Woodley then observed a number of cased guns in the vehicle. He also observed an uncased weapon in the vehicle and cited both McManemy and Callan for violating weapons laws. After McManemy mentioned something about a pistol, the officer became concerned there might still be a handgun in the vehicle McManemy had exited. Officer Woodley was reasonably concerned for his safety. We conclude the facts just mentioned gave Officer Woodley probable cause to search the Suburban for further weapons.

McManemy claims the court erred in relying in part on his bizarre behavior of diving into the ditch with the green bag to justify overruling his motion to suppress. We find this contention is irrelevant to our consideration of the legality of the search. The probable cause requirement was satisfied by Officer Woodley’s observation of an uncased weapon inside the vehicle and statements made by the defendant indicating another weapon might be found in the vehicle. These facts gave Officer Woodley probable cause to search the vehicle before the defendant dove into the snow bank in an attempt to hide his drugs.