Opinion ID: 544309
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Inadequate Affidavit

Text: 27 He first argues that the search warrant was improperly issued. He contends that the affidavit supplied by the police at the probable-cause hearing contained unreliable and untrue statements--statements allegedly made by Streeter and relayed to the police by Ms. Andrews. He argues that the affiant had a duty to verify these statements or at least attest to the previous reliability of the hearsay declarant--Streeter--under Illinois v. Gates, 462 U.S. 213, 103 S.Ct. 2317, 76 L.Ed.2d 527 (1983). We disagree. 28 Under the Fourth Amendment the issuer of a warrant must simply make a practical decision whether, given all the circumstances of the affidavit, there is a fair probability that evidence of wrongdoing will be found. Gates, 462 U.S. at 238, 103 S.Ct. at 2332. It is apparent to us that, considering all the circumstances presented in the affidavit, there was sufficient probability of finding evidence of wrongdoing to support the issuance of the warrants served upon Collins. There were several statements made by Streeter to a reliable informant and to an undercover agent linking Collins to the suspected crime. For instance, Streeter told Dahl about the methamphetamine cook named Bob who had twenty marijuana plants growing in his house and had just moved from Barstow, California. These statements were sufficiently reliable for a probable-cause finding, given that they were made against Streeter's own penal interest. These statements were also corroborated by police observations. Officers saw Streeter drive out of town to Collins's house around the time he told Dahl he would deliver the alcohol to his cook. In addition, a records check indicated that Collins's name was Bob, and that he had recently moved to South Dakota from Barstow, California.