Opinion ID: 1932965
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: was the search lawful?

Text: It is appropriate to state at the outset of the discussion that counsel for defendant conceded in oral argument that the police had probable cause in fact to justify searching the residence in question, but contend that the affidavit is insufficient under the test laid down in Aguilar v. Texas, 378 U.S. 108, 84 S.Ct. 1509, 12 L.Ed.2d 723 (1964), and Spinelli v. United States, 393 U.S. 410, 89 S.Ct. 584, 21 L.Ed.2d 637 (1969). The Court is of the opinion that Lt. Vick had sufficient information that the robbers had entered 623 O'Hea Street, which was only about 175 feet from the Kentucky Fried Chicken establishment. The employees of the victimized establishment told Lt. Vick how the robbers were dressed and the direction which they ran up Cately Street after the robbery. Mrs. Crumbly gave additional information and Mrs. Camel, whose house was only about ten feet from the back door of 623 O'Hea Street, heard the commotion of people running, looked out and saw a black male enter the rear of the O'Hea Street address. Lt. Vick also had been told that one of the robbers was holding his pocket and another was carrying a Pepsi-Cola bottle. This was only fifteen or twenty-five minutes after the robbery and at that time and at the time the search was made Lt. Vick knew that a felony had been committed, and had probable cause to believe that the perpetrators of this crime as well as evidence of the crime were in the residence at 623 O'Hea Street. Under Mississippi Code Annotated section 99-3-7 (1972), the officers had a right to enter the residence to arrest the robbers and make an appropriate search of the residence. Cf. Warden v. Hayden, 387 U.S. 294, 87 S.Ct. 1642, 18 L.Ed.2d 782 (1967). The underlying circumstances prepared by the officers only fifteen to twenty-five minutes after the robbery occurred are in the following words: This date two black males went into the Kentucky Fried Chicken and robbed an employee, using a small caliber pistol. Taken was about $250.00. These two persons ran back north toward O'Hea Street, according to witnesses. Investigating officers located a Davanna Camel, 237 Cately, who stated about this time she heard someone running, looked out, and saw a negro male, wearing maroon pants and jacket, enter the back door of 623 Ohea Street. This fit the description of one of the robbers. Lt. D. Vick checked around this area and saw a one dollar bill in the back yard. The person living in this house Joe Earl Simpson, has a criminal background with this department, and it is believed he might be involved. Based on the above information it is believed whoever robbed the above location ran into this house. We are also of the opinion that the affidavit for the search warrant under these circumstances was sufficient. The affidavit was made by Officer Cochran who joined Lt. Vick in the investigation a few minutes after the robbery. We are not dealing with probable cause based upon information furnished by an anonymous tip or a police informant. Eyewitnesses furnished the basis of the information. Under the emergency surrounding the circumstances of securing the search warrant, the officers apparently did not get the names of the people who worked in the victimized establishment, nor did they state in the affidavit the witnesses who told the officers of the persons running north on O'Hea Street that fitted the description of the robbers. This could only have been information furnished by eyewitnesses. Thus they were identifiable if not identified. This was a reasonable inference that the magistrate could draw from the affidavit. Also the details given in the affidavit are self-verifying and, of course, Mrs. Camel was identified in the affidavit as having seen the maroon-clad individual enter 623 O'Hea Street. In Cundiff v. United States, 501 F.2d 188 (8th Cir.1974), it is stated: Defendant contends here that these facts, disclosed in the affidavit for search warrant executed by Detective Hatfield, failed to meet the requirements set out in Spinelli. More particularly he protests the failure to set forth underlying information so that the magistrate could determine the credibility of the hearsay information given by the informers. Defendant fails to note the important distinction between an informant who divulges evidence of a crime obtained from sources unknown to the affiant or magistrate and an individual who is an eyewitness and only relates matters gathered from his own observation. As we stated in McCreary v. Sigler, 406 F.2d 1264, 1269 (8th Cir.), cert. denied, 395 U.S. 984, 89 S.Ct. 2149, 23 L.Ed.2d 773 (1969): The essence of reliability may be found in an informant's statement of facts rather than an allegation of mere conclusory suspicion. An informant who alleges he is an eyewitness to an actual crime perpetrated demonstrates sufficient reliability of the person. 501 F.2d at 189-190. And in United States v. Bell, 457 F.2d 1231 (5th Cir.1972), it was said: The rationale behind requiring a showing of credibility and reliability is to prevent searches based upon an unknown informant's tip that may not reflect anything more than idle rumor or irresponsible conjecture. Thus, without the establishment of the probability of reliability, a neutral and detached magistrate could not adequately assess the probative value of the tip in exercising his judgment as to the existence of probable cause. Many informants are intimately involved with the persons informed upon and with the illegal conduct at hand, and this circumstance could also affect their credibility. None of these considerations is present in the eyewitness situation such as was present here. Such observers are seldom involved with the miscreants or the crime. Eyewitnesses by definition are not passing along idle rumor, for they either have been the victims of the crime or have otherwise seen some portion of it. A neutral and detached magistrate could adequately assess the probative value of an eyewitness's information because, if it is reasonable and accepted as true, the magistrate must believe that it is based upon firsthand knowledge. Thus we conclude that Aguilar and Spinelli requirements are limited to the informant situation only. 457 F.2d at 1238-1239. This case presents an example of the difficulty police have in putting in affidavit form information they have. The Supreme Court of the United States has never departed from the statement made by Mr. Justice Goldberg in United States v. Ventresca, 380 U.S. 102, 85 S.Ct. 741, 13 L.Ed.2d 684 (1965), as follows: These decisions reflect the recognition that the Fourth Amendment's commands, like all constitutional requirements, are practical and not abstract. If the teachings of the Court's cases are to be followed and the constitutional policy served, affidavits for search warrants, such as the one involved here, must be tested and interpreted by magistrates and courts in a common-sense and realistic fashion. They are normally drafted by nonlawyers in the midst and haste of a criminal investigation. Technical requirements of elaborate specificity once exacted under common law pleadings have no proper place in this area. A grudging or negative attitude by reviewing courts toward warrants will tend to discourage police officers from submitting their evidence to a judicial officer before acting. 380 U.S. at 108, 85 S.Ct. at 746, 13 L.Ed.2d at 689. Chief Justice Burger affirmed the foregoing quotation from Ventresca in United States v. Harris, 403 U.S. 573, 91 S.Ct. 2075, 29 L.Ed.2d 723 (1971). Citing the earlier case of Jones v. United States, 362 U.S. 257, 80 S.Ct. 725, 4 L.Ed.2d 697 (1960), the Court in Harris stated: Both recount personal and recent observations by an unidentified informant of criminal activity, factors showing that the information had been gained in a reliable manner, and serving to distinguish both tips from that held insufficient in Spinelli, supra, in which the affidavit failed to explain how the informant came by his information. 403 U.S. at 579, 91 S.Ct. at 2079-2080, 29 L.Ed.2d at 731. We are of the opinion that a magistrate should consider, and no doubt did consider, in issuing the search warrant involved in the present case that witnesses to a robbery and witnesses who see robbers fleeing are not likely to fabricate the facts. The affidavit in this case is about as definite as one could expect the average policeman to make under the circumstances under which police officers work, especially in the wake of a violent crime. There is nothing in this record to indicate that the police officers were callous or indifferent to the Fourth Amendment rights of the defendant. We hold that the affidavit was sufficient.