Court says ID of informant can stay confidential

Friday, Sept. 9, 2005 | 11:03 a.m.

CARSON CITY -- The Nevada Supreme Court ruled today that the identity of a confidential informant does not have to be revealed to defense attorneys for a Clark County resident whose charge of possession of drugs with intent to sell allegedly stemmed from information that informant gave police.

The state's high court overturned the ruling of District Judge Lee Gates who had ordered the Clark County District Attorney's Office to reveal the name to the defense lawyers representing for Shannon Warr.

The court said, "In this case, we conclude that the district court erred in ordering disclosure of the informant's identity because he was not a material witness."

It said the informant was not an active participant in the events giving rise to the criminal charge.

The informant had told Metro Police that drugs were being sold from an apartment at 5272 South Maryland Parkway and that resulted in the start of an investigation, according to court records.

In February, two police officers went to the apartment and were let in by a Hispanic woman, police said. Warr came out of another room and gave permission to search. The officers found marijuana, methamphetamine and a glass pipe at the apartment.

Defense lawyers said they needed the identity of the informant to determine if someone else other than Warr may have been selling the drugs at the apartment. And the informant also may know whether Warr was just a bystander when the drugs were sold, the defense lawyers argued.

The district attorney's office countered that the informant did not set up the arrest and was not a witness to any part of the meeting of the officers that resulted in the arrest of Warr in February. The arrest was the result of the search and the informant was not involved, the district attorney's office said.

The court said that "it is not reasonably likely that he (the informant) had information in support of a defense theory of the case."