Opinion ID: 2273318
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: The Missing Probable Cause Affidavit

Text: [¶ 9] A search of Reese's motel room pursuant to a search warrant yielded the gun, ammunition, and other items linked to the crime. It is undisputed that at the time of the suppression hearing the probable cause affidavit for the motel room search was not among the search warrant documents on file in the District Court. Pursuant to M.R.Crim. P. 41, both the officer responsible for executing the search warrant and the court have responsibilities with respect to the filing of the probable cause affidavit and the other search warrant documents. The State was unable to explain why the affidavit was absent from the court file. The officer who executed the search warrant only became aware of the absence many months after the documents were filed. [¶ 10] At the suppression hearing the court admitted testimony over Reese's objection from the District Court judge who reviewed the affidavit and request for a search warrant. The judge's testimony was admitted solely to prove that there was an affidavit presented with the request for a warrant. The court also admitted the testimony of the law enforcement officer who presented the affidavit and request for a warrant to the judge. The officer testified that he remembered drafting an affidavit on his desktop computer, presenting it to his supervisor for review, and then going with another officer to present the affidavit and request for a search warrant to the judge. The next day the officer used the information from the affidavit for the motel room search warrant to draft an affidavit and request for a search warrant for Reese's rental vehicle. The affidavits for the two searches were identical in all respects pertinent to the probable cause facts common to both searches except that the affidavit for the vehicle search identified the officer who observed an empty bullet casing in plain view in the rental vehicle. The observation itself was described in both affidavits. The court admitted both the properly-filed affidavit for the search of the rental vehicle and the copy of the original affidavit for the search of the motel room. [¶ 11] Pursuant to article 1, section 5 of the Maine Constitution and the Fourth Amendment to the United States Constitution, search warrants must be based on probable cause and supported by oath or affirmation. A probable cause affidavit, when properly returned and filed pursuant to M.R.Crim. P. 41, creates a record that permits judicial review. See 15 M.R.S. § 55 (2009). Reese argues that review of a search warrant is impossible when no probable cause affidavit has been filed as required. We disagree. Meaningful appellate review requires proof that the judge reviewed the affidavit and the request for the warrant simultaneously, see State v. Gamage, 340 A.2d 1, 7 (Me.1975); State v. Stone, 322 A.2d 314, 317 (Me. 1974), and proof that there were grounds for probable cause, see State v. Hollander, 289 A.2d 419, 421 (Me.1972). We decline to invalidate a warrant due to a lost affidavit when the existence and contents of the pertinent language in the affidavit can be proved, as they were here, in a manner sufficient to permit meaningful review. See People v. Galland, 45 Cal.4th 354, 86 Cal.Rptr.3d 841, 197 P.3d 736, 746-47 (2008) and cases cited therein. [¶ 12] We note that the District Court judge's testimony appears not to have been necessary because the law enforcement officer testified that he presented the judge with both the affidavit and the request for a search warrant at the same time. It would have been better practice on the part of the State not to have called the judge to testify so as not to put the judge in the position of being a witness in the proceeding. However, the admission of the judge's testimony at the suppression hearing did not prejudice Reese. See M.R. Evid. 403.