Source: http://oh.findacase.com/research/wfrmDocViewer.aspx/xq/fac.20180404_0001293.SOH.htm/qx
Timestamp: 2019-04-18 20:22:24+00:00

Document:
Defendant Damondo Black is charged with conspiracy to distribute narcotics (marijuana, cocaine, and heroin) in violation of 21 U.S.C. § 846 (Count 1) and possession of a firearm in connection therewith in violation of 18 U.S.C. §§ 924(c)(1) and (2) (Count 2), as well as possession of a firearm by a prohibited person in violation of 18 U.S.C. §§ 922(g)(1), 924(a)(2), and 2 (Count 5). (Doc. 1.) This matter is before the Court on Defendant's Motion for Reconsideration of Magistrate's Order Denying Motion to Suppress, (Doc. 133), and the United States' response. (Doc. 134.) For the reasons that follow, Defendant's Motion is hereby DENIED.
In determining whether a search warrant is supported by probable cause, a court may consider only the “four-corners of the affidavit.” United States v. Frazier, 423 F.3d 526, 531 (6th Cir. 2005) (citing Whiteley v. Warden, Wyo. State Penitentiary, 401 U.S. 560, 565 n.8 (1971)). Thus, “information known to the officer but not conveyed to the magistrate is irrelevant.” United States v. Abernathy, 843 F.3d 243, 249 (6th Cir. 2016) (quoting United States v. Brooks, 594 F.3d 488, 492 (6th Cir. 2010) (citation omitted)).
An affidavit must show a “likelihood of two things” to establish probable cause for a search. Id. (internal quotations and citations omitted). They are: “first, that the items sought are seizable by virtue of being connected with criminal activity; and second, that the items will be found in the place to be searched.” Id. (citing United States v. Church, 823 F.3d 351, 355 (6th Cir. 2016) (quoting Zurcher v. Stanford Daily, 436 U.S. 547, 555 n.6 (1978))) (internal quotations omitted). “[E]vidence of a crime” is a critical component of a search warrant. Armstrong v. City of Melvindale, 432 F.3d 695, 700 (6th Cir. 2006) (citing Zurcher). To this end, an applicant for a search warrant must recite the statutory violation for which the warrant is requested on the face of the warrant or in the affidavit in support. See United States v. Abboud, 438 F.3d 554, 569-71 (6th Cir. 2006).
Probable cause exists when “common-sense” suggests a “fair probability” that contraband or evidence of a crime “will be found in a particular place.” Illinois v. Gates, 462 U.S. 213, 238 (1983). “[T]he affidavit supporting the search warrant must demonstrate a nexus between the evidence sought and the place to be searched.” United States v. Brown, 828 F.3d 375, 382 (6th Cir. 2016) (citing United States v. Carpenter, 360 F.3d 591, 594 (6th Cir. 2004) (en banc)). “The connection between the residence and the evidence of criminal activity must be specific and concrete, not ‘vague' or ‘generalized.'” Id. (quoting Carpenter, 360 F.3d at 595).
Probable cause “is not a high bar.” Kaley v. United States, 134 S.Ct. 1090, 1103 (2014). “It requires only the kind of fair probability on which reasonable and prudent [people, ] not legal technicians, act.” Id. (citing Florida v. Harris, 133 S.Ct. 1050, 1055 (2013) (quoting Gates, 462 U.S. at 231, 238)) (internal quotations omitted) (alteration in original). A reviewing court should give “great deference” to a magistrate judge's probable cause determination and reverse only if it was “arbitrarily” made. United States v. Frechette, 583 F.3d 374, 379 (6th Cir. 2009). It should not engage in “line-by-line scrutiny of the warrant application's affidavit.” United States v. Williams, 544 F.3d 683, 686 (6th Cir. 2008). The affidavit should be judged “on the adequacy of what it does contain, not on what it lacks, or what a critic might say should have been added.” United States v. Allen, 211 F.3d 970, 975 (6th Cir. 2000) (emphases added).
Gates established its “totality-of-the-circumstances” analysis against the backdrop of a supporting affidavit based on a confidential informant's tip. “Informants' tips, like all other clues and evidence coming to a policeman on the scene, may vary greatly in their value and reliability.” 462 U.S. at 232 (quoting Adams v. Williams, 407 U.S. 143, 147 (1972).) An informant's reliability, veracity, or basis of knowledge are relevant considerations, but should not be applied rigidly. Id. at 232-33; see United States v. Thomas, 605 F.3d 300, 307 (6th Cir. 2010) (“When an affidavit relies on hearsay information from a confidential informant, the judicial officer (and reviewing court) must consider the veracity, reliability, and basis of knowledge for that information as part of the totality-of-the-circumstances review.”); see also United States v. King, 227 F.3d 732, 740 (6th Cir. 2000) (Veracity, reliability, and basis of knowledge of the tip “are relative where the strength of one factor may compensate for the deficiency of another.” (citing Gates, 462 U.S. at 230, 238-39)).

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