Opinion ID: 891674
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: Probable Cause Required for a Search Warrant

Text: {14} The Fourth Amendment guarantees [t]he right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures.. . . U.S. Const. amend. IV. Except in the case of a few specifically established and well-delineated exceptions, before conducting a search, the Fourth Amendment requires police to obtain a warrant issued by a judge or magistrate. Katz v. United States, 389 U.S. 347, 357, 88 S.Ct. 507, 19 L.Ed.2d 576 (1967), superceded by statute as stated in United States. v. Koyomejian, 946 F.2d 1450, 1455 (9th Cir.1991). {15} Similarly, Article II, Section 10 of the New Mexico Constitution provides that no warrant to search any place, or seize any person or thing, shall issue without describing the place to be searched, or the persons or things to be seized, nor without a written showing of probable cause. Both the United States Constitution and the New Mexico Constitution require a showing of probable cause prior to the issuance of a search warrant. See Williamson, 2009-NMSC-039, ¶ 14, 146 N.M. 488, 212 P.3d 376. {16} Probable cause to search a specific location exists when there are reasonable grounds to believe that a crime has been committed in that place, or that evidence of a crime will be found [in that location]. State v. Evans, 2009-NMSC-027, ¶ 10, 146 N.M. 319, 210 P.3d 216. Put another way, before a valid search warrant may issue, the affidavit must show: (1) that the items sought to be seized are evidence of a crime; and (2) that the criminal evidence sought is located at the place to be searched. Id. ¶ 11 (internal quotation marks and citation omitted). There are no `bright line, hard-and-fast rules' for determining probable cause, but the degree of proof necessary to establish probable cause is `more than a suspicion or possibility but less than a certainty of proof.' Id. (quoting State v. Nyce, 2006-NMSC-026, ¶ 10, 139 N.M. 647, 137 P.3d 587, overruled in part on other grounds by Williamson, 2009-NMSC-039, 146 N.M. 488, 212 P.3d 376 (expressly disavowing the de novo standard of review)).