Opinion ID: 1718507
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Heading: The Probable-Cause Issue.

Text: We now consider the merits of the probable-cause issue. The existence of probable cause to search a particular area depends on whether a person of reasonable prudence would believe a crime has been committed on the premises to be searched or that evidence of a crime might be located there. Gogg, 561 N.W.2d at 363; Weir, 414 N.W.2d at 330. The issuing magistrate or a judge resolving a challenge to the magistrate's finding is simply [required] to make a practical, common-sense decision whether, given all the circumstances set forth in the affidavit before [the magistrate or judge], including the `veracity' and `basis of knowledge' of persons supplying hearsay information probable cause exists. Gogg, 561 N.W.2d at 363 (quoting Illinois v. Gates, 462 U.S. 213, 238, 103 S.Ct. 2317, 2332, 76 L.Ed.2d 527, 548 (1983)). In so doing, a judge may rely on reasonable common-sense inferences from the information presented. State v. Green, 540 N.W.2d 649, 655 (Iowa 1995). Close cases are decided in favor of upholding the validity of the warrant. Gogg, 561 N.W.2d at 364; State v. Godbersen, 493 N.W.2d 852, 854-55 (Iowa 1992). Applying this standard to the showing before us, we conclude that probable cause existed for the issuance of the warrant permitting the search of defendant's apartment. In the present case, the evidence provided by the jailhouse informant, if corroborated, would render it probable that defendant would possess marijuana. Some corroboration of that statement is found in the information supplied by neighbors in December of 1997. More corroboration indicating that this was a continuing activity was found in the information provided by a neighbor in May of 1998, which included license plate numbers of persons with reputations for using drugs. As the Supreme Court has recognized, police knowledge of reputation may be an important element in determining probable cause. United States v. Harris, 403 U.S. 573, 91 S.Ct. 2075, 29 L.Ed.2d 723 (1971). In that case, the Court said: We cannot conclude that a policeman's knowledge of a suspect's reputation something that policemen frequently know and a factor that impressed such a legal technician as Mr. Justice Frankfurteris not a practical consideration of everyday life upon which an officer (or a magistrate) may properly rely in assessing the reliability of an informant's tip. Id. at 583, 91 S.Ct. at 2081-82, 29 L.Ed.2d at 733. We believe this principle is applicable to the reputations of those persons who visited defendant's apartment and also to defendant's own reputation based on his conviction for possession of marijuana with intent to deliver. The finding of marijuana residue in the trash behind defendant's apartment when considered with the other circumstances we have discussed was sufficient to establish probable cause for the issuance of the warrant notwithstanding the fact another tenant of the building also dumped trash at that location. Based on the conclusions we have reached with respect to defendant's challenge to the warrant application and the finding of probable cause, we must affirm the judgment of the district court. Although defendant argues in his brief that his Fourth Amendment rights were violated by the actions of law enforcement officers in searching his trash cans, that argument was expressly withdrawn during oral argument. We do not consider it. We have considered all issues presented and conclude that the judgment of the district court should be affirmed. AFFIRMED. McGIVERIN, S.J., [] participates in place of LARSON, J., who takes no part.