Opinion ID: 2441634
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: Suppression of Evidence Arguments

Text: Echols and Baldwin make a number of arguments contending that the trial court erred in denying their motions to suppress evidence. The facts underlying the arguments are recited as follows. On June 3,1993, nighttime search warrants were executed for the residences of Echols and Baldwin. The warrants each authorized a search for the following: black t-shirt; blue jeans with holes in knees; lace-up boots; briefcase and contents of briefcase with photographs of young white males; knives; any items contained in a list of items to compare with Arkansas Crime Lab Evidence, which consisted of blue, green red, black, and purple fibers, blue, yellow, red, paint or plastic, and blue, red waxing type substance; and cult or Satanic materials. A red robe, fifteen black t-shirts, and a white t-shirt were seized from Baldwin's house. Two notebooks that appeared to have Satanic or cult writings in them, a red t-shirt, blue jeans, and boots were taken from Echols's residence. Both appellants make a number of suppression arguments. The first of these is that Detective Bryn Ridge's affidavit and testimony supporting the warrant were false, and consequently the trial court erred in refusing to suppress the evidence seized from the searches. In United States v. Leon, 468 U.S. 897, 104 S.Ct. 3405, 82 L.Ed.2d 677 (1984), the Supreme Court held that the good-faith exception does not apply when the issuing magistrate was misled by an affiant who either knew the information given was false or acted in reckless disregard of its truth or falsity. Id. at 923, 104 S.Ct. at 3420. Franks v. Delaware, 438 U.S. 154, 98 S.Ct. 2674, 57 L.Ed.2d 667 (1978), provides the test for determining when a warrant falls outside the Leon good-faith exception. Under Franks v. Delaware , a warrant should be invalidated if a defendant shows by a preponderance of the evidence that: (1) the affidavit contained a false statement which was made knowingly, intentionally, or recklessly by the affiant; and (2) the false statement was necessary to a finding of probable cause. Id. at 155-56, 98 S.Ct. at 2676-77. Further, if such a finding is made, the false material should be excised and the remainder of the warrant examined to determine if probable cause still exists. Id. If the truthful portion of the warrant makes a sufficient showing of probable cause, the warrant will not be invalidated. Id. The burden of showing that an affiant knowingly and recklessly included a false statement is upon the challenger of the affidavit. 438 U.S. at 171, 98 S.Ct. at 2684. In Pyle v. State, 314 Ark. 165, 862 S.W.2d 823 (1993), we held that the standard set out in Franks v. Delaware requires a knowing intent to deceive, or a reckless disregard of truth. Id. at 175, 862 S.W.2d at 828. Matters omitted must be material circumstances which contradict or dispel the incriminating factors in the affidavit and which render what is in the affidavit effectively false because of their nondisclosure. Biggers v. State, 317 Ark. 414, 421, 878 S.W.2d 717, 721 (1994). The affidavit of Detective Ridge contained the false statements that appellants contend invalidate the warrant. In the affidavit, Detective Ridge stated that Jessie Misskelley told him the victims were tied with brown rope when they were actually tied with shoestrings, and that the killings took place in the afternoon. The latter statement is of no consequence because the record reveals that the issuing magistrate, Judge Rainey, expressed some concern about the time discrepancy, and, as a result, Inspector Gary Gitchell testified under oath that he had taken an additional statement from Misskelley, and, in it, Misskelley said the crimes took place around 7:00 p.m. Even if these two statements were false in material matters, and even if Detective Ridge knew them to be false, the rest of the warrant still made a sufficient showing for probable cause. See Franks v. Delaware, supra . The warrant contained a sufficient showing of the facts that Misskelley said he, Baldwin, and Echols committed the murders; that Misskelley had knowledge of details of the crime not known to the public; and the statement that evidence connecting them to the crime could be found in the homes. Baldwin separately argues that Detective Ridge knowingly and intentionally misrepresented the truth when he swore that Echols, Baldwin, and Misskelley were members of a cult. We summarily dismiss this argument because Jessie Misskelley told Inspector Gitchell that the three were in a cult, and Detective Ridge testified at the suppression hearing that he had learned from other sources that the three were in a cult. Thus, Baldwin did not meet his burden of showing that Detective Ridge knowingly and intentionally stated a falsehood. See Franks v. Delaware, supra . Echols and Baldwin next contend that the circuit judge erred in finding that the municipal judge who issued the warrants was neutral and detached in determining whether to issue the warrants. Detective Bryn Ridge testified that Judge Rainey informed the officers as to the elements that needed to go in the affidavit in order for it to be a legal document. Judge Rainey testified that he advised the officers that, after the search warrant had been executed, they should make sure that they wrote out everything they did on the affidavit. The general rule for the application of the Fourth Amendment exclusionary rule to evidence seized under an invalid warrant is set out in United States v. Leon, 468 U.S. 897, 104 S.Ct. 3405, 82 L.Ed.2d 677 (1984). There, the Court carved out the good-faith exception to the requirement of a valid warrant. Id. at 922, 104 S.Ct. at 3420. One of the errors that an officer's good faith will not cure is that which occurs when the magistrate wholly abandons his detached and neutral judicial role. Id. When a judicial officer becomes so involved in the investigation as to be deemed a participant, he has abandoned this role. Lo-Ji Sales, Inc. v. New York, 442 U.S. 319, 99 S.Ct. 2319, 60 L.Ed.2d 920 (1979). For example, when a magistrate accompanies the police to the scene and orders seizure of items, his objectivity is lost. Id. at 327, 99 S.Ct. at 2324. Likewise, when a magistrate gives the prosecutor directives about areas of inquiry or grants immunity to witnesses, he has lost his objectivity. See State v. Guhl, 140 Ga.App. 23, 230 S.E.2d 22 (1976). Here, the proof showed that the issuing magistrate stated the elements necessary for a valid warrant, and that included telling the officers to record on the warrant the actions they took when they executed the warrant. On such proof we cannot say that the ruling of the trial court was clearly in error. Hudson v. State, 316 Ark. 360, 872 S.W.2d 68 (1994). Both Echols and Baldwin contend that the trial court erred in ruling that Jessie Misskelley was a reliable informant. Again, we cannot say that the trial court's ruling was clearly against the preponderance of the evidence. Hudson v. State, supra . Even though Misskelley's initial statement was in error about the ligatures and the time of the killings, he corrected the latter and he clearly knew that Christopher Byers had been castrated and that one of the victims had been cut in the face. This information was not known by the public at the time he supplied this information. Further, Detective Ridge corroborated these statements by his own knowledge gained at the crime scene, and through contacts at the state crime laboratory. Even more important, Misskelley implicated himself in the murders because he admitted that Michael Moore attempted to escape from the crime scene, and he chased and caught Moore and brought him back. Thus, the finding that Misskelley was a reliable informant was not clearly in error. See Wilson v. State, 317 Ark. 548, 878 S.W.2d 755 (1994), rev'd on other grounds, ___ U.S. ___, 115 S.Ct. 1914, 131 L.Ed.2d 976 (1995); Watson v. State, 291 Ark. 358, 724 S.W.2d 478 (1987). Both Echols and Baldwin next contend that the warrant did not describe with particularity the items to be seized. We quickly dismiss the argument. All of the items to be seized were described with particularity, except the fibers to be seized for the crime laboratory, and it is difficult to think of a way the warrant could have been more specific than to describe, as it did, the blue, green, red, black, and purple fibers; blue, yellow, red, paint or plastic; and blue red waxingtype substance. Both appellants also contend that the warrant authorized a dragnet fishing expedition for mere evidence. In Warden v. Hayden, 387 U.S. 294, 87 S.Ct. 1642, 18 L.Ed.2d 782 (1967), the Supreme Court held that the Fourth Amendment allows the seizure of not only the implements of the crime, but also allows the seizure of mere evidence providing there is a probable cause to believe the evidence sought will aid in a conviction. Echols and Baldwin next contend that the trial court erred in refusing to suppress the evidence seized because it was a nighttime search. The nighttime clause in the affidavit stated: Your affiant prays that this SEARCH WARRANT be approved for both night time and day time service for the following reasons: A. The objects to be searched for are in imminent danger of removal, could be destroyed or disposed of as suspects are close friends and members of a close-knit cult group. It is extremely likely that information of the detention of one of the cult members will result in the immediate destruction of items of evidence, or place such objects to be seized in danger of imminent removal. One of the suspects is in custody at the time of the execution of the affidavit. Rule 13.2 of the Arkansas Rules of Criminal Procedure provides for nighttime searches as follows: Except as hereafter provided, the search warrant shall provide that it be executed between the hours of six a.m. and eight p.m., and within a reasonable time, not to exceed sixty (60) days. Upon a finding by the issuing judicial officer of reasonable cause to believe that: . . . . (ii) the objects to be seized are in danger of imminent removal;.... Ark.R.Crim.P. 13.2(c)(ii). In reviewing whether the requirements of the rule were met, we conduct an independent determination based upon the totality of the circumstances and reverse only if the trial court's ruling was clearly against the preponderance of the evidence. Richardson v. State, 314 Ark. 512, 863 S.W.2d 572 (1993). The evidence presented to the magistrate from whom a nighttime search is requested must be of facts justifying a warrant rather than mere conclusions. Neal v. State, 320 Ark. 489, 898 S.W.2d 440 (1995). Here, there were facts stated to support the conclusion that the evidence was in danger of imminent removal. Detective Ridge testified at the hearing that his investigation revealed that appellants and Misskelley were close-knit members of a cult, and, upon Echols and Baldwin discovering that Misskelley had been taken into custody, Echols and Baldwin were likely to destroy any evidence that might be in their possession or at their residence, such as photographs, knives, and clothing. In light of this testimony, the trial court's conclusion that the nighttime search was justified was not against the preponderance of the evidence. See Neal v. State, supra .