Title: Beemer v. Com.

State: kentucky

Issuer: Kentucky Supreme Court

Document:

665 S.W.2d 912 (1984) Michael Gordon BEEMER, Appellant, v. COMMONWEALTH of Kentucky, Appellee. Supreme Court of Kentucky. March 8, 1984. Rodney McDaniel, Asst. Public Advocate, Frankfort, for appellant. Steven L. Beshear, Atty. Gen., Sarah M. Jackson, Asst. Atty. Gen., Frankfort, for appellee. VANCE, Justice. This is an appeal from a judgment sentencing appellant to imprisonment for 20 years as a persistent felony offender as a result of his conviction on charges of trafficking in and possession of controlled substances. Appellant had been convicted previously on seven counts of unlawful possession or sale of controlled substances. Because of an important question relating to search and seizure we granted oral argument, and we now affirm the conviction. Appellant was arrested after the search of an automobile in his possession yielded a substantial quantity of controlled substances. The search was conducted pursuant to a search warrant. The affidavit in support of the warrant was based upon information from an anonymous informer and read as follows: Appellant questions the validity of the warrant because the affidavit does not establish the credibility and reliability of the informant. The Constitution of the United States and the Constitution of the Commonwealth of Kentucky each prohibit unreasonable searches and seizures. In Aguilar v. Texas, 378 U.S. 108, 84 S. Ct. 1509, 12 L. Ed. 2d 723 (1964), and Spinelli v. United States, 393 U.S. 410, 89 S. Ct. 584, 21 L. Ed. 2d 637 (1969), the United States Supreme Court established a two-pronged test applicable to search warrants based upon information from anonymous informants, to-wit; (1) that the basis of the knowledge of the informant be shown, and (2) that the reliability of the informant must be established. Because Kentucky cannot accord less protection from searches and seizures than is afforded by the United States Constitution, we were bound to follow the Aguilar and Spinelli decisions. We did so in Berkshire v. Commonwealth, Ky., 471 S.W.2d 695 (1971); Thompson v. Commonwealth, Ky., 472 S.W.2d 884 (1971), and Buchenburger v. Commonwealth, Ky., 482 S.W.2d 747 (1972), in which we determined the two-pronged test established by Aguilar, supra and Spinelli, supra, to be a requirement under the Kentucky Constitution as well as the United States Constitution. The United States Supreme Court has now abandoned the two-pronged test of Aguilar and Spinelli and has adopted a "totality of the circumstances" test. Illinois v. Gates, ___ U.S. ___, 103 S. Ct. 2317, 76 L. Ed. 2d 527 (1983). Even though the United States Supreme Court has abandoned the rule of Aguilar and Spinelli, supra, as a federal constitutional requirement, the question remains as to whether we shall retain these tests as a matter of state constitutional interpretation. Our decisions in Berkshire, Thompson, and Buchenburger, supra, were required of us because we must, of necessity, comply with the decisions of the United States Supreme Court. They did not constitute an independent determination of Kentucky law but were compelled by Federal law. We are fully in accord with the relaxation of the Federal requirements as expressed in Illinois v. Gates, supra, and to the extent that Berkshire v. Commonwealth, supra; Thompson v. Commonwealth, supra; and Buchenburger v. Commonwealth, supra, express a contrary view, they are overruled. Appellant also contends that the affidavit on its face does not establish probable cause that any controlled substance would be found in the motor vehicle in appellant's possession. We think the totality of the circumstances, including the informant's tip and the subsequent surveillance and investigation by the police officers, established a substantial basis for a reasonable belief by the magistrate that the Edgingtons had brought a quantity of controlled substances for sale into the jurisdiction and a reasonable probability existed that some of it had been distributed to appellant, who was known previously to be associated with trafficking in controlled substances. It was likewise reasonable to believe that a plastic garbage bag which appellant placed in the trunk of his motor vehicle during a visit to his residence by the Edgingtons may have contained a portion of the contraband. Other errors alleged by appellant we find to be either unpreserved for review, without merit, or harmless error beyond a reasonable doubt. The Judgment is affirmed. STEPHENS, C.J., and VANCE, AKER, LEIBSON, WINTERSHEIMER and STEPHENSON, JJ., concur. GANT, J., did not sit or participate in this case.