1 Stephen A.

Munkelt, SBN 80449

MUNKELT LAW OFFICE
2 356 Providence Mine Road, Suite E
Nevada City, CA 95959
3 Tel: (530) 265-8508
Fax: (530) 265-0881
4 stephen@munkeltlaw.com
5 Attorneys for Joel Franks
6
7
8 SUPERIOR COURT OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA
9 COUNTY OF NEVADA
10 People of the State of California, Case No. F15-0101
11 Plaintiff,
v. NOTICE AND MOTION FOR DISCLOSURE
12 OF SEALED INFORMATION IN SW 3883
JOEL FRANKS, DATE: 3/27/2017
13 Defendant. TIME: 9:00 a.m.
DEPT: 4
14
15
16 INTRODUCTION

17 The facts surrounding issuance of search warrant 3883 are summarized in defendants motion

18 under Penal Code 1538.5, set for hearing concurrently with this motion. The affidavit in support of the

19 warrant relied on information from two confidential reliable informants and an untested informant.

20 The substance of the informants information was sealed in Attachment A. Defendant is informed and

21 believes that one of the informers was Raquel Larimer. On December 21, 2016, the Union newspaper

22 reported that Ms. Larimer had died in a fire at her boyfriends house. (A copy of the article is attached

23 and incorporated here by reference.) If Ms. Larimer was an informant in warrant 3883, there is no longer

24 any basis to withhold her identity, nor seal the information she provided.

25 ///

26 ///

27 ///

28

Notice and Motion for Disclosure

1
 1 ISSUES AND ARGUMENT
2 California has long recognized a privilege for withholding the identity of a person who has
3 furnished information to law enforcement. (Evidence Code 1041; People v. Hobbs (1994) 7 Cal. 4th
4 948, 957.) In essence the privilege is based on the perception that disclosure would expose informants to
5 possible retaliation, and diminish the quantum of information available to law enforcement to combat
6 crime. However, if an informer has died, the rationale for protecting their identity no longer applies.
7 Defendant is informed and believes that Raquel Larimer was one of the confidential informants
8 for SW 3883. On that basis he moves for disclosure of the identity and all of the sealed material relating
9 to Ms. Larimer.
10
11 Respectfully Submitted,
12 March 13, 2017
13 Stephen A. Munkelt
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28

Notice and Motion for Disclosure

2
3/13/2017 Woman identified in Grass Valley Independence Court fire I TheUnion.com

(http://www. theunion. com/news/the-union-now-live-

s t reaming-from-the-news room-2/)

Woman identified in Grass Valley Independence Court fire

December 21, 2016

l!:' Buy Photo (httpJ!TheUnion .mycapture.com/mycapture/remoteimage.asp? i":ide Ca:)lion

EH~flm~~@h1e4ifliefl.~backurl=http://www.TheUnion.com/news/local-news/woman-
identified-in.-..9rass-valley~r,d~P,.endence~~rt-fire/&imaoe=::htto://www.theuniBn.com/wo-
\tir~mxr~g~~~2Blrs1~1l=?r ~F.c ~S:8{.kr: ~~9~-~ace Monaay anernoon ecemoet 19 on the 100 block of
F2J1.!enne~ce. 'tourt in rass~a9 ev wr,ere vear old Raauel Larimer from Nev_arta Citv was found dead .
~J;tt'.....~ 1~ 1nnJtnt"\b:)c::::h n7Jv.,v.,,AJ t ~11n1f"ln ~nml\J.1n-~nnt,on-fR1nlf"l:::.rlc:::/?01 ~Pl ?'l~ire:til='l"l1rt'\\.v-~\/l1-

.-.,,,,
E!] ~u-'.
- .

The woman who died because of the Independence Court home fire which occurred Monday in Grass Valley, was Nevada City's Raquel Larimer, age 31.

Foul play is also not suspected at this time.

Larimer was known to stay at her boyfriend's house on the 100 block of Independence Court where Larimer died.

Her body was found in the crawl space that had been converted into an unpermitted living area where Monday's fire originated, according to authorities.

A dog was also found trapped in the basement and was later found dead.

Smoke inhalation was reported as the initial cause of death. A final report is waiting on toxicology results w hich could be as muc h as 45 days out.

"It's likely toxicology results to return as well," Sgt. Mike Sullivan of the Nevada County Coroner's office said.

http://www.theunion.com/news/local-news/woman- identified-in-grass-valley-independence-court-fire/ 1/2

3/13/2017 Woman identified in Grass Valley Independence Court fi re I T heUnion.com

No new information regarding the cause of the fire is available at this time, but the City of Grass Valley Fire and Police Departments continue to investigate.

"Based on the evidence we've seen, there doesn't seem to be any foul play," Grass Valley Police Chief Alex Gammelgard said.

"Our original press release stated it as a basement," Grass Valley Fire Chief Mark Buttron said of the unpermitted living area. "It is more in line w ith a craw l
space. That is where the hot water heater was . The overall ceiling height certainly was not short, but not normal roof height."

It was unknown if there were smoke detectors in the crawl space.

To contact Staff Writer Elias Funez email efunez@theunion.com (mailto:efunez@theunion.com), or call 530-477-4230.

http://www.theunion.com/news/local-news/woman-identified-in-grass-valley-independence-court-1ire/ '2J2