Opinion ID: 1929377
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: The Inferences

Text: With the foregoing guidance in mind, we turn to a review of the affidavit in the instant matter. Stewart was shot late on the evening of September 30, 1992, in the 1400 block of Cliftview Avenue in the Eastern District of the Baltimore City Police Department. Inasmuch as the cause of death was multiple gunshot wounds and his body was found lying between two parked cars, the inference is that Stewart was gunned down on the public street. The warrant authorized a search for, inter alia, Handguns, Ammunition, Personal Papers showing ownership/possession of a firearm. It is self-evident that the murder weapon was not found at the crime scene. The fact that the first of the witnesses who telephoned the police would not identify themselves is significant. These witnesses knew Ward by sight and name. There was no information from any caller that the murderer was a person other than Ward. Ward, age twenty to twenty-one, had an arrest record that included two or more handgun [v]iolations. All of this information permitted the magistrate to infer that these witnesses were unwilling to identify themselves because they feared Ward. The affidavit described Ward, not in terms but in reasonable inference, as a person to whom a handgun and ammunition are items of utility and value. Consequently, the magistrate could infer a reasonable probability that, between the murder and the application for the warrant, Ward had not disposed of the murder weapon and that Ward would be even less likely to have disposed of the weapon's less incriminating bullets. The magistrate further could infer that the weapon was not on Ward's person when he was brought in for questioning less than forty-eight hours after the murder. As a matter of self-protection the police most certainly would have done a pat-down for weapons when they accosted Ward, and the police were still looking for the murder weapon when they applied for the warrant. Apparently Ward was accosted when he was in or about his automobile, inasmuch as the police towed that automobile to headquarters while Ward was transported to headquarters by other means. Thus, the weapon was not in plain view in Ward's automobile when the police towed it. Under the authorities reviewed below, the magistrate had probable cause to believe that the murder weapon and associated evidence of the crime of murdering Stewart could be found in Ward's home and/or in his automobile, but out of view. Because more court decisions deal with residences than with automobiles, we shall review the residence cases first.