Opinion ID: 2378566
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Sufficiency of the affidavit respecting probable cause.

Text: This issue was presented to the trial Court on a motion to suppress evidence seized in the search of the defendant's apartment on the third floor at 51 Knox Street in the City of Lewiston. The defendant complains about the partial denial of his motion which permitted the methamphetamine seized in the search to be used against him at trial. The affidavit incorporated by reference in the application for the search warrant and in the warrant itself (See, State v. Hollander, 1972, Me., 289 A.2d 419) reads as follows: STATE OF MAINE ANDROSCOGGIN, SS. AFFIDAVIT I, Robert A. Soucy, a Detective sergeant with the Lewiston Police Department and a duly sworn police officer have reasonable grounds to believe that there is an amount of METHAMPHETAMINE (SPEED) in the appartment (sic) (6) 51 Knox Street Lewiston, Maine. This appartment (sic) is occupied by Joseph Appleton. My grounds for believing that methamphetamine (speed) is present at the above location are: (1) On this date, a reliable co-operating citizen told me that he had purchased some methamphetamine in this apartment and saw more in the apartment today. (2) This co-operating citizen brought this methamphetamine in to be tested, and the test was positive. (3) This co-operating citizen also bought some methamphetamine on the 24th of August 1971 for us. (4) This cooperating citizen informed us that a [named female] had moved into this apartment with Joseph Appleton. This was checked out with where she used to live at the YWCA. She has not been seen there since Sunday August 22 1971. She was observed by us at 51 Knox St. (4) (sic) This cooperating citizen also bought some LYSERGIC ACID DIETHYLAMIDE (LSD) for us previously. Having attended a Federal Narcotics school, in Louisville Ky. I have been trained to make certain tests for dangerous drugs and have these kits at my disposal. The reliable co-operating citizen has given us other information in the past that was correct. Robert A. Soucy Det. Sergeant Robert A. Soucy Sworn to before me this 25th day of August, 1971 James F. Cosgrove James F. Cosgrove complaint justice  Methamphetamine, the object of the search, was property for which a search warrant could issue, as its possession by the defendant was unlawful under 22 M.R.S.A. § 2210. Rule 41(b) (3), M.R.Crim.P. The affidavit discloses on its face that probable cause for the affiant's belief that methamphetamine, at the time of the application for the search warrant, was present in the Appleton apartment had to rest heavily upon the word of the unidentified cooperating citizen or informant. The officer-affiant's conclusory statement in his application for the search warrant that he had probable cause to believe and did believe there was then being concealed in the apartment methamphetamine and that said contraband was being illegally maintained and possessed contrary to 22 M.R. S.A. §§ 2210, 2215 was for all that appears from the affidavit wholly founded upon the information given to him to the effect that, sometime on the very day of the application for, and execution, of the search warrant, the informant made a purchase of methamphetamine at the apartment and saw some more there at the time. The officer did not personally observe the transaction, nor was he in the apartment at any time before the search. The only nexus between the defendant's apartment and the drug transaction in question was that supplied by the informant's report. The affiant's personal observation that a named female was seen at that apartment and his confirmation through other sources that she had apparently left her usual habitat for the period of a few days furnished no factual data implying any connection with the type of illegal activity for which the search warrant was being obtained. At best, it only served to identify the apartment where the single sale of methamphetamine took place and thus adduce some credibility to the report. Much, then, depended on the informant's reliability. The affidavit centers the foundational basis for the informant's trustworthiness upon the fact that the informant's purchase at the apartment was turned over to the police who, upon analysis, personally observed it to be methamphetamine and upon the added circumstance that on the previous day the informant at the affiant's request had brought in some methamphetamine which tested out as such. That the August 24 sample was obtained through a purchase as directed remains in the realm of hearsay since no supporting personal observation of the purchase is revealed in the affidavit. The same must be said of the previous requested purchase of lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD), the date of which is not stated. We must approach the question of the validity of the instant search warrant with a view to test it for compliance with the federal constitutional standards of the Fourth Amendment as defined by the Supreme Court of the United States, and, in addition thereto, for conformance with the added requirements of Rule 41, Maine Rules of Criminal Procedure. Under the Rule the affidavit must contain all the information in support of the magistrate's finding of the existence of probable cause. Neither the magistrate nor a reviewing court can go outside the four corners of the affidavit to determine the existence of probable cause. State v. Hawkins, 1970, Me., 261 A.2d 255; State v. Benoski, 1971, Me., 281 A.2d 128; State v. Cadigan, 1969, Me., 249 A.2d 750. The warrant must stand or fall solely on the contents of the affidavit. [1] Evidence subsequently adduced at a hearing on a motion to suppress cannot be used by the trial court to rehabilitate and redeem an otherwise defective affidavit. United States v. Roth, 1967, 7 Cir., 391 F.2d 507. The Complaint Justice who issued the warrant, however, in his determination of the existence of probable cause was not confined to the direct assertions of facts and circumstances disclosed by the affidavit, but could consider also all reasonable inferences of which such facts and circumstances were reasonably susceptible. State v. Benoski, supra; Irby v. United States, 1963, 114 U.S.App.D.C. 246, 314 F.2d 251, 253, cert. denied, 374 U.S. 842, 83 S.Ct. 1900, 10 L.Ed.2d 1064. But we pointed out in Benoski the emphasis which we accorded in Cadigan and Hawkins to the principle that affidavits which are as to any essential element merely conclusory will not suffice. Affidavits for search warrants, on the other hand, must be tested and interpreted by the magistrate to whom application is made for their issuance and by the courts in appellate review in a commonsense and realistic fashion without adherence to unnecessary technical niceties. State v. Benoski, supra; State v. Hawkins, supra; United States v. Ventresca, 1965, 380 U.S. 102, 85 S.Ct. 741, 13 L.Ed.2d 684. Insisting upon magisterial performance in a neutral and detached way on the part of the warrant officer as opposed to mere rubber stamping of police requests, reviewing courts, in balancing the competing interests involved between the requirements of police detection of criminal activity and the protection of the constitutional privilege of privacy, should and must pay substantial deference to the magistrate's determination of probable cause. State v. Hawkins, supra; Aguilar v. State of Texas, 1964, 378 U.S. 108, 84 S.Ct. 1509, 12 L.Ed. 2d 723. Such finding of probable cause is entitled to great weight. Jones v. United States, 1960, 362 U.S. 257, 270, 271, 80 S.Ct. 725, 4 L.Ed.2d 697; United States v. Melvin, 1969, 4 Cir., 419 F.2d 136. As stated in United States v. Ventresca, supra, the resolution of doubtful or marginal cases in this area should be largely determined by the preference to be accorded to warrants. The central question facing the magistrate when asked to issue a search warrant in the instant case was, whether from all the factual circumstances disclosed in the affidavit and all the reasonable inferences flowing from them he was satisfied the affiant had reasonable grounds at the time of his affidavit and the issuance of the warrant for the belief that the criminal law, in this instance unlawful possession of methamphetamine, was being violated on the premises to be searched, and if the apparent facts set out in the affidavit were such that a reasonably discreet and prudent person would be led to believe that there was a commission of the crime of unlawful possession of methamphetamine, then there was probable cause justifying the issuance of the search warrant. Dumbra v. United States, 1925, 268 U.S. 435, 45 S.Ct. 546, 69 L.Ed. 1032. The existence of probable cause depends upon the facts and circumstances of each case. United States v. Plemmons, 1964, 6 Cir., 336 F.2d 731. That the information upon which, in whole or in part, a search warrant issues is hearsay to the officer-affiant, as distinguished from facts personally known to him, does not ipso facto negate the existence of probable cause. An affidavit is not to be deemed insufficient by virtue of the mere fact that it sets out personal observations of the information and not those of the affiant, so long as a substantial basis for crediting the hearsay is presented or the nature of the information be such that the magistrate can properly infer that it was received by the informant in a reliable way. Jones v. United States, 1960, 362 U.S. 257, 80 S.Ct. 725, 4 L.Ed.2d 697; State v. Hawkins, supra. Where an affidavit is based on hearsay information, the magistrate must be informed through the affidavit of some of the underlying circumstances from which the informant concluded that the narcotics were where he claimed they were, and some of the underlying circumstances from which the officer-affiant concluded that the informant, whose identity need not be disclosed, was credible or his information reliable. State v. Cadigan, supra; Aguilar v. State of Texas, supra. The constitutional restrictions upon searches and seizures were obviously designed for citizen protection against official invasion of privacy and the security of property. The exclusionary rule in respect to unreasonable searches and seizures was adopted as a means for efficient enforcement of the constitutional mandate. Such evidence, if it were to be considered by the magistrate issuing the warrant, would be relevant evidence and by no means that type of evidence deemed inherently unreliable or prejudicial. Under such circumstances, it is entirely proper to require of one who seeks to challenge the legality of a search as the basis for suppressing relevant evidence that he allege and prove his charge of illegality. Jones v. United States, 1960, 362 U.S. 257, 80 S.Ct. 725, 4 L.Ed.2d 697; Chin Kay v. United States, 1962, 9 Cir., 311 F.2d 317; Batten v. United States, 1951, 5 Cir., 188 F.2d 75. A reading of the affidavit reveals that the officer-affiant made no personal observations respecting any criminal activity at the apartment of the defendant designated therein as being apartment (6) at 51 Knox Street, in Lewiston, Maine. The fact that on the twenty-fifth day of August, 1971, the same day the affidavit was made, the search warrant issued and executed, a purchase of methamphetamine was transacted in the reference apartment and that there was more actually seen in the place, depended wholly upon the personal observation of the unidentified informant. This was hearsay evidence and before the magistrate could accept the same and conclude that narcotics were probably present at the time in the apartment, the officer-affiant had to establish in his affidavit a reasonable basis upon which the magistrate could himself reach the conclusion that the affiant as a prudent and discreet person could credit the hearsay or determine that the information was reliable. The informant's alleged ability to obtain some methamphetamine the previous day at police request from some undisclosed place or person without any corroborating circumstance of the factual assertion that he purchased it, as well as his previous alleged purchase of LSD at an indefinite time in the past, have little probative value tending to indicate that the informant should be believed respecting his stated purchase of methamphetamine in the defendant's apartment on August 25, 1971. However, the informant's delivery of the methamphetamine to the officer-affiant on the same day of his asserted purchase of the same from the defendant's apartment carries inherent credibility value of some probative force in that such action in and of itself involved him in the commission of crime, since his possession of the narcotic contraband was a criminal offense. An informant is not likely to turn over to the police such criminal evidence unless he is certain in his own mind that his story implicating the persons occupying the premises where the sale took place will withstand police scrutiny. What quantum of information is necessary to support an affiant's belief that an unidentified informant's information is truthful has recently been considered by the Supreme Court of the United States in the landmark case of United States v. Harris, 1971, 403 U.S. 573, 91 S.Ct. 2075, 29 L.Ed.2d 723. In that case, Mr. Chief Justice Burger emphasized that common sense in the important daily affairs of life would induce a prudent and disinterested observer to credit statements of an informant which are against his penal interest. We must agree People do not lightly admit a crime and place critical evidence in the hands of the police in the form of their own admissions. Admissions of crime, like admissions against proprietary interests, carry their own indicia of credibility  sufficient at least to support a finding of probable cause to search. (Emphasis supplied.) It is unnecessary for us to decide how far we should extend the rule which justifies the admission of declarations against interest as an exception to the hearsay rule to declarations against one's penal interest beyond the factual scope of the instant case. See, State v. O'Clair, 1972, Me., 292 A.2d 186. We do rule, however, that such conduct on the part of an informant may justify an affiant's reasonable belief of credibility of the informant's story in support of the magistrate's finding of probable cause. This brings us to the defendant's next contention that the affidavit was insufficient on the probable cause issue because of the absence therein of any averment as to the time of day when the affiant received his information from the anonymous informant or as to the time of day when the informant made his purchase of methamphetamine in the apartment to be searched. We must point out that, contrary to the facts in Rosencranz v. United States, 1966, 1 Cir., 356 F.2d 310, the affidavit does disclose that the purchase of the narcotic drug was concluded on the day of the making of the affidavit and the issuance and execution of the search warrant, i. e. on the twenty-fifth day of August, 1971. The Complaint Justice was aware of the time when on August 25, 1971 the affidavit was signed and the warrant issued. We gather from the suppression hearing that these acts took place between 7:00 and 7:15 p. m. on that day. The time of day when the purchase was made undoubtedly was kept out of the affidavit to protect the anonymity of the informant. We must assume that the Complaint Justice followed the law and did not tap external sources of information in determining the existence of probable cause. We are aware of the ruling in Rosencranz that the officer-affiant must set forth the basis for the magistrate's inferences with enough precision so that, if the affidavit is subjected to an attack for lack of probable cause at a subsequent hearing, the trial judge will be ruling on the reasonableness of inferences based on the same underlying circumstances as confronted the commissioner [the Complaint Justice]. Where the single purchase is related to the day of the making of the affidavit and issuance of the warrant and where the affidavit further discloses that the informant saw more of the narcotic drug in the apartment, the Rosencranz requirements were fully satisfied. Interpreting the affidavit in a commonsense way, the Complaint Justice was justified in inferring that the purchase would not have been made prior to 8 or 9 a. m. on that day (a reasonable time to make a call in the morning) and, taking into consideration that more of the narcotic drug was seen at that time, he was further justified as a discreet and prudent person in believing that there probably was some more there at the time he issued the warrant. Search warrants have been sustained on affidavits disclosing single sale of contraband in the place to be searched on the day before the making of the affidavit. United States v. Barbini, 1928, D.C.Cal., 26 F.2d 237; United States v. Ghiorsi, 1929, D.C.Cal., 31 F.2d 440; Ewing v. United States, 1930, 5 Cir., 37 F.2d 287. To the contrary, United States v. Sands, 1926, D.C.Wash., 14 F.2d 670. There is no hard and fast rule as to how much time may intervene between the obtaining of the facts and the making of the affidavit upon which the search warrant is based, but the lapse of time between the time of the observations and the time of the affidavit should not be too great. Facts other than the mere single sale may be presented in the affidavit to establish the probable continuing presence of contraband in the place to be searched allowing for a longer period of time between the observation of the facts and the time of the making of the affidavit. In the instant case, where the single sale was made on the same day as the affidavit and the issuance of the warrant, together with the informant's declaration that he saw more in the apartment, we cannot say that the Complaint Justice, at the time he issued the warrant, was not justified in believing that in all probability methamphetamine was still present in the apartment.