In what circumstances will an informant be considered a material witness on the issue of guilt?

Here, the informant was not a material witness on the issue of guilt. He simply pointed 'the finger of suspicion toward a person who has violated the law.' (See People v. McShann (1958) 50 Cal.2d 802, 808, 330 P.2d 33, 36.) The guilt of the defendant was established by evidence totally independent of the informer.

Defendant was found leaning toward a dresser drawer where the heroin was found. He admitted it was his. His physical condition evidenced recent drug use. In view of this strong evidence of guilt, we conclude additionally that even if the informant were a material witness, the defendant was not deprived of a fair trial (People v. Hambarian, supra at p. 661, 107 Cal.Rptr. 878), and any error in this regard was harmless beyond a reasonable doubt (Chapman v. California (1967) 386 U.S. 18, 87 S.Ct. 824, 17 L.Ed.2d 705).

Defendant contends that the information supplied by the unidentified informant was not sufficiently corroborated to provide reasonable cause to search. (Cf., People v. Cruz (1966) 244 Cal.App.2d 137, 144--145, 53 Cal.Rptr. 354.) He also contends that there was [45 Cal.App.3d 756] no evidence by the prosecution to show that defendant was in fact on parole or subject to a warrantless search. We disagree.