Opinion ID: 1311035
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Sufficiency of the search warrant complaint.

Text: The defendant asserts that the search warrant was invalid in that the complaint upon which it was based was insufficient on its face to support issuance of the warrant. In reviewing the sufficiency of the complaint, this court is confined to the record established before the magistrate at the time the warrant was issued. Aguilar v. Texas (1964), 378 U. S. 108, 109 footnote 1, 84 Sup. Ct. 1509, 12 L. Ed. 2d 723; Morales v. State (1969), 44 Wis. 2d 96, 102, 170 N. W. 2d 684; State ex rel. Furlong v. Waukesha County Court (1970), 47 Wis. 2d 515, 524, 177 N. W. 2d 333. [1] The information contained in the instant complaint was based on information from an informer. While a search warrant may be validly issued upon hearsay information, hearsay obtained in the manner herein described is subject to verification pursuant to the tests delineated by the high court in Aguilar v. Texas, supra , explicated in United States v. Ventresca (1965), 380 U. S. 102, 85 Sup. Ct. 741, 13 L. Ed. 2d 684; Spinelli v. United States (1969), 393 U. S. 410, 89 Sup. Ct. 584, 21 L. Ed. 2d 637, and United States v. Harris (1971), 403 U. S. 573, 91 Sup. Ct. 2075, 29 L. Ed. 2d 723, and applied by this court in cases subsequent thereto. This court has recognized Aguilar as requiring that the officer requesting the warrant must establish (1) the underlying circumstances from which he concludes that the informant is reliable, and (2) that the underlying circumstances or manner in which the informant obtained his information is reliable. Sanders v. State (1975), 69 Wis. 2d 242, 258, 230 N. W. 2d 845. [1] The trial court concluded that the information supplied by the officer on the face of the complaint for the search warrant was sufficient to support a valid search warrant. This conclusion was not in error. As to the first prong of the test, defendant concedes that the complaint sufficiently established the credibility of the informant. The defendant contends, however, that the complaint failed to disclose adequate facts to establish that the underlying circumstances or manner in which the informer obtained his information was reliable. It is important to observe that the crime charged herein is possession of a controlled substance, with intent to deliver. Therefore, personal observation of a substance alleged to be illegal in Rott's apartment would render the informant an eyewitness to at least a portion of the crime. State v. Mansfield, supra, p. 278, footnote 1. The complaint recounts the conclusory statement of the informer that the owner of the apartment was dealing in controlled substances from the location of that apartment. Absent additional information, such conclusory statement would be insufficient to establish the requisite underlying circumstances. Aguilar v. Texas, supra, p. 114. However, in the instant case, the allegation was supported by the informant's assertion that he obtained a sample of the substance from the apartment and that there were additional drugs apparent on the premises at that time. The complaint further asserts the officer analyzed the substance and determined it to be marijuana. The United States Supreme Court has made it plain that elaborate specificity is not required in the drafting of affidavits for search warrants. United States v. Harris, supra, p. 578; United States v. Ventresca, supra, p. 108. The Court has stated that: . . . Although in a particular case it may not be easy to determine when an affidavit demonstrates the existence of probable cause, the resolution of doubtful or marginal cases in this area should be largely determined by the preference to be accorded to warrants . . . . United States v. Ventresca, supra, page 109. [2] Although no statement was made in the complaint herein that the informer had personally observed illegal substances located in the environs of the apartment in question, the statement was made that the informant told the officer he had removed the proffered material from the apartment. The only logical inference to be drawn from such a statement was that the informer had observed the substances in the apartment prior to his removal of the sample. This inference was apparently made by the issuing magistrate. This court, in applying the Aguilar criteria, has stated that observation of the criminal act plus the reliance on the informant by the police are sufficient to support the issuance of a search warrant. State v. Mansfield, supra, p. 280. The complaint herein clearly alleged personal observation by the informer of criminal activity. Therefore, the information contained on the face of the complaint was sufficient to support the request for the search warrant. The issuing magistrate properly determined that probable cause existed.