Opinion ID: 196972
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Leon Bypass

Text: 26 The district court elected to bypass the merits of the staleness claim that the Graffam affidavit afforded no substantial basis for a probable cause finding that Zayas either resided or conducted drug operations within a reasonably recent time frame at 16 Holbrook Road. See Zayas-Diaz, No. 94-30-01-B, slip op. at 7. Leon allows the trial court, in its informed discretion, to bypass the customary merits inquiry into whether there existed a substantial basis for the probable cause determination made by the issuing magistrate, and simply decide instead whether the challenged search in all events came within the good faith exception to the exclusionary rule. Leon, 468 U.S. at 925, 104 S.Ct. at 3421; see Gates, 462 U.S. at 264-65, 103 S.Ct. at 2346-47 (White, J., concurring); see, e.g., United States v. Manning, 79 F.3d 212, 221 (1st Cir.1996), cert. denied, --- U.S. ----, 117 S.Ct. 147, 136 L.Ed.2d 93 (1996); Craig, 861 F.2d at 820 (discussing principles of judicial restraint and precedent affecting Leon bypass determinations). 8