Opinion ID: 418146
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Staleness of Probable Cause

Text: 17 The Affidavit for Search Warrant avers that Peter Abbott stated that on or about July 22, 1980 he was in Haimowitz's office and observed a file containing many documents relating to the loan application in question herein. Judi Greenhut, a former secretary of appellant, also stated that as of June, 1980, there existed a file in Haimowitz's office containing the loan documents in question. The affidavit was signed August 21, 1980. 18 The appellant maintains that because there was a seven and one-half month time lapse between the loan closing on January 4, 1980 and the August 21, 1980 date of the affidavit, the information contained in the affidavit was stale. 19 In United States v. Weinrich, 586 F.2d 481 (5th Cir.1978), cert. denied, 441 U.S. 927, 99 S.Ct. 2041, 60 L.Ed.2d 402 (1979), the appellants, convicted on drug conspiracy charges, argued that information relied upon in a wiretap application was fatally stale. The first informant's tip was given on November 10, 1976, one hundred days prior to the application, and the second tip came on January 18, 1977, thirty days prior to the application. 20 In upholding the legality of the wiretap, the court noted: 21 The function of a staleness test in the search warrant context is not to create an arbitrary time limitation within which discovered facts must be presented to a magistrate. Rather, the assay focuses on one relevant part of the determination that reasonable probable cause exists to warrant the issuance of an order to perform a wiretap or make a search. Out-of-date information as to a single transaction could be seen to describe no more than an isolated event in the past. Such an affidavit would not create probable cause to believe that similar or other improper conduct is continuing to occur. On the other hand, information which demonstrates a chain of related events covering a broad span of time continuing to the current period may furnish a most reliable indicia of present activity, thereby clearly demonstrating that probable cause exists for the order to intrude. 22