Opinion ID: 2078310
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Admission of Search Warrant and Supporting Affidavit

Text: Guajardo alleged the vehicle search was illegal and filed a motion to suppress all evidence obtained from it. The trial court took the motion under advisement until the prosecution attempted to introduce the fruits of the search during trial. The trial court then excused the jury and conducted a hearing on the motion. In response to Guajardo's arguments, the prosecution offered the search warrant, including the probable cause affidavit, to prove the search was legal and the evidence was admissible. The trial court denied the motion to suppress and thereafter admitted the search warrant into evidence within the presence of the jury. The jurors individually reviewed the warrant later in the trial. Guajardo claims on appeal that the warrant should not have been shown to the jury because the affidavit contained hearsay and prejudicial statements. Hearsay is an out-of-court statement offered in court to prove the truth of the facts asserted therein and thus resting for its value on the credibility of an out-of-court declarant. Patterson v. State (1975), Ind., 263 Ind. 55, 324 N.E.2d 482. The affidavit contained information collected from T.K. and several other people during the rape investigation. Two of the people quoted within the affidavit were available for cross-examination at trial, so their statements were not inadmissible hearsay. Id.; Bundy v. State (1981), Ind., 427 N.E.2d 1077. The only person quoted in the affidavit who did not testify at trial was Audrey Fronek. According to the affidavit, Fronek told police that she saw a vehicle similar to Guajardo's traveling through T.K.'s neighborhood on the morning of the rape. Fronek's statements to police were clearly hearsay. Notwithstanding the hearsay, the State was obligated to introduce the search warrant and probable cause affidavit into evidence after Guajardo challenged the adequacy of the warrant. Brandon v. State (1979), 272 Ind. 92, 396 N.E.2d 365. However, the probable cause affidavit and search warrant should have been presented only to the trial judge because they have no bearing on any issue before the jury. These documents pertain only to the admissibility of evidence obtained under the warrant and that determination is a matter for the court, not the jury. Clark v. State (1978), 177 Ind. App. 376, 379 N.E.2d 987. Whenever the admissibility of evidence secured under a search warrant is challenged, the issue is presented before the trial court outside the jury's presence. There is no reason for the trier of fact to view the probable cause affidavit or search warrant, particularly since these documents often contain statements highly prejudicial to the defendant. Id., 177 Ind. App. at 378-379, 379 N.E.2d at 988-989. Failure to keep the warrant and affidavit from jury view is not reversible error per se; a showing of prejudice is required. Id. Despite the hearsay problem, Fronek's comments were not so prejudicial as to require reversal. While Fronek merely sighted a car similar to Guajardo's in the area of the abduction, T.K. unequivocally identified Guajardo as her assailant and testified that his car was the vehicle in which she was raped. In light of the strong identification testimony, the presence of Fronek's comments in the probable cause affidavit was merely cumulative and constituted only harmless error.