What is the definition of a "secondary source" in criminal law?

California, United States of America


The following excerpt is from People v. Stanley, 18 Cal.App.5th 398, 226 Cal.Rptr.3d 291 (Cal. App. 2017):

"secondary source." We disagree. "[P]rivate citizens who are witnesses to or victims of a criminal act, absent some circumstance that would cast doubt upon their information, should be considered reliable. This does not, of course, dispense with the requirement that the informantwhether citizen or otherwisefurnish underlying facts sufficiently detailed to cause a reasonable person to believe that a crime had been committed and the named suspect was the perpetrator; and the rule also presupposes that the police be aware of the identity of the person providing the information and of his status as a true citizen informant. ... [N]either a previous demonstration of reliability nor subsequent corroboration is ordinarily necessary when witnesses to or victims of criminal activities report their observations in detail to the authorities." ( People v. Ramey (1976) 16 Cal.3d 263, 269, 127 Cal.Rptr. 629, 545 P.2d 1333.)

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