Opinion ID: 896028
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 6

Heading: Modus Operandi and Reputation Evidence

Text: [¶ 15] Damron argues information in Exhibit B regarding his reputation and evidence of modus operandi from an unidentified F.B.I. agent to Agent Loucks should be disregarded as unreliable and stale. We disagree. [¶ 16] We generally consider observations of law enforcement officers involved in a common investigation as a reliable source in a magistrate's probable cause determination. Hage, 1997 ND 175, ¶ 16, 568 N.W.2d 741 (relying on United States v. Ventresca, 380 U.S. 102, 85 S.Ct. 741, 13 L.Ed.2d 684 (1965); 2 Wayne R. LaFave, Search and Seizure § 3.5(a)(1996)). However, long chains of information through police channels should be avoided. Hage, 1997 ND 175, ¶ 16, 568 N.W.2d 741. Here, F.B.I. Agent Loucks was working with Officer Stone because the burglary at Site on Sound involved the cutting of U.S. West phone lines to disarm the alarm system. Agent Loucks had been investigating other cases involving the cutting and disabling of U.S. West lines in Cass County and Clay County. Agent Loucks was contacted by another F.B.I. agent who identified Wade D. Arvidson as a person who had committed several burglaries by cutting phone lines to disable alarm systems. The F.B.I. agent also knew Arvidson had undergone a name change. We do not view this chain of information through police channels to be long or attenuated. Some of the information from the unidentified F.B.I. agent was corroborated by Damron himself. Damron admitted he was formerly known as Wade D. Arvidson. When law enforcement officers verify an informant's information through an independent investigation, the corroboration lends credence to remaining unverified information. Id. at ¶ 17, 568 N.W.2d 741. We do not view the information passed from the unidentified F.B.I. agent to Agent Loucks and presented by Officer Stone in his supporting affidavit to be unreliable. [¶ 17] Likewise, staleness is not a factor here. It would have been preferable if Exhibit B had provided specific information indicating when the various burglaries the unidentified F.B.I. agent reported had taken place. However, probable cause is not determined solely by the time between the facts relied upon and the warrant's issuance. Id. at ¶ 12, 568 N.W.2d 741. Whether probable cause exists depends on the particular facts and circumstances of the case. Johnson, 531 N.W.2d at 278. The passage of time may be unimportant to the validity of probable cause when the course of conduct is of a protracted or continuous nature. Id. Here, the ongoing investigations of several crimes involving the cutting of telephone lines could be considered protracted. Instead of focusing on the unknown time of certain crimes, [t]he proper inquiry is whether the magistrate, taking into consideration the nature of the crime, the nature of the criminal, the nature of the thing to be seized, and the nature of the place to be searched could reasonably believe that evidence of a criminal violation was probably at the specified location. Id. [¶ 18] Here, Site on Sound was burglarized. Several burglaries involving cutting telephone lines were under investigationa modus operandi of a specific and technical nature. Damron was suspected of burglarizing Site on Sound and keeping the stolen goods in his home. Damron had frequented Site on Sound and made clear his interest in, and knowledge of, electronics and alarm systems. Damron acknowledged where he lived. The footprints found near the crime scene matched the footprints found near Damron's residence only two days after the crime occurred. The only issue remaining is whether Damron's residence was a logical place for stolen goods or other evidence of the crime to be found.