Case Name: COMMONWEALTH of Pennsylvania, Respondent v. Eric Jay LEED, Petitioner
Court: Supreme Court of Pennsylvania
Jurisdiction: Pennsylvania
Decision Date: 2016-12-28
Citations: 164 A.3d 476
Docket Number: No. 645 MAL 2016
Parties: COMMONWEALTH of Pennsylvania, Respondent v. Eric Jay LEED, Petitioner
Judges: 
Reporter: West's Atlantic Reporter, Third Series
Volume: 164
Pages: 476–476

Head Matter:
COMMONWEALTH of Pennsylvania, Respondent v. Eric Jay LEED, Petitioner
No. 645 MAL 2016
Supreme Court of Pennsylvania.
Dec. 28, 2016

Opinion:
ORDER
PER CURIAM
AND NOW, this 28th day of December, 2016, the Petition for Allowance of Appeal is GRANTED. The issues, as stated by Petitioner, are:
(1) Did the Superior Court err as a matter of law when it upheld the lower court's determination that the issuing authority in [Petitioner's] case had a substantial basis to find that probable cause existed within the four corners of a search warrant's affidavit that was facially incapable of establishing probable cause? Specifically, did the Superior Court err when:
a. The [cjourt considered information beyond the affidavit's four corners in direct conflict with the plain language of Pennsylvania Rule of Criminal Procedure 20.3? and/or
b. The Court found there was no meaningful legal distinction between a reviewing court's probable cause determination when an affidavit contains ambiguities or omissions requiring clarification, as opposed to when an affidavit contains explicit sworn-to facts requiring modification to substantiate a finding of probable cause?
(2) Did the Superior Court's determinations below grant lower courts with arbitrary judicial discretion to fashion a finding of probable cause when the affidavit presented to the issuing authority does not, on its face, contain facts sufficient to establish probable cause?