Opinion ID: 1231969
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 4

Heading: Application of the Probable Cause Standard

Text: In undertaking de novo review of the probable cause determination under the redrafted affidavit, we must apply the standard articulated by the United States Supreme Court in Illinois v. Gates, 462 U.S. 213, 103 S.Ct. 2317, 76 L.Ed.2d 527 (1983). Under Gates, probable cause exists if given all the circumstances set forth in the affidavit ... there is a fair probability that contraband or evidence of a crime will be found in a particular place. Id. at 238, 103 S.Ct. at 2332. In Carter, we applied the Gates standard using the following test: An officer has probable cause to conduct a search if a reasonably prudent person, based upon the facts known by the officer, would be justified in concluding that the items sought are connected with the criminal activity and that they would be found at the place to be searched. 145 Ariz. at 110, 700 P.2d at 497 (citations omitted). The redrafted affidavit indicates that Kadous knew the following facts at the time he applied for the search warrant: first, Moore, the victim of the bombing, had been involved in a minor traffic accident with Buccini several weeks before the bombing; second, a note reading drop it was found on the victim's vehicle; third, Buccini could account for his whereabouts on the night in question and had named several witnesses who could verify his presence at the bar and at his parents' residence before, during, and after the bombing, which occurred at 11:56 p.m.; [8] and finally, Buccini apparently had lawfully experimented with explosives and had gunpowder and fuse in his home. In this case, the property to be seized constituted items that could be used to make an explosive device. Buccini never denied that he had worked in an ammunition supply store and that he kept such items in connection with his reloading hobby. We have no quarrel, then, with the court of appeals' statement that there was probable cause to believe that such items would be found in the search. Buccini, 165 Ariz. at 110, 796 P.2d at 912. However, justification for a search requires more. The inquiry is not whether these items could be found in Buccini's house; the critical question is whether such items were connected with the particular criminal activity of which he was suspected. [9] Gates, 462 U.S. at 2388, 103 S.Ct. at 2322; Carter, 145 Ariz. at 110, 700 P.2d at 497. Any other result would justify search of any premises connected with the use, distribution, or sale of guns or explosive materials. The items to be seized were not contraband, nor are the materials or equipment in question inherently criminal. Thus, the strength of the inference that the items were connected with criminal activity depends upon the strength of the evidence indicating that Buccini was responsible for the bombing. The affidavit recounts the fact that Buccini and Moore were involved in a traffic accident. There was no evidence that the encounter was hostile or that Buccini later evinced any threatening behavior toward Moore. Further, there was no evidence that the note reading drop it was tied in any way to Buccini. It is not alleged in the affidavit or otherwise that Moore or his insurer had instituted any type of proceedings against Buccini or that Buccini was aware of any threat to do so. Thus, the phrase drop it seems to have little relevance when related to an incident that occurred weeks earlier. In short, the affidavit does not show that, so far as Buccini knew, Moore had anything to drop. The facts relating to Buccini's alibi, then, were critical to the probable cause determination. If Buccini had a firm alibi for the time of the bombing, there would be no basis to believe that the items in his home were connected to the bombing, and therefore no probable cause. Absent facts indicating that the alibi was untrue, we cannot say that a reasonably prudent person would be justified in concluding that the items sought were connected with criminal activity. To the contrary, the officer's deliberate or reckless omission and misstatement of material facts indicates that he was acting mainly upon a suspicion or hunch that Buccini was responsible for the bombing. An officer's mere suspicion that a search will reveal items connected to criminal activity is not sufficient to establish probable cause. United States v. Kandlis, 432 F.2d 132 (9th Cir.1970); State v. Hutton, 110 Ariz. 339, 341, 519 P.2d 38, 40 (1974). To the contrary, as the United States Supreme Court pointed out in Johnson v. United States: The point of the Fourth Amendment, which is often not grasped by zealous officers, is not that it denies law enforcement the support of the usual inferences which reasonable men draw from evidence. Its protection consists in requiring that those inferences be drawn by a neutral and detached magistrate instead of being judged by the officer engaged in the often competitive enterprise of ferreting out crime. 333 U.S. 10, 13-14, 68 S.Ct. 367, 369, 92 L.Ed. 436 (1948). We conclude, therefore, that the redrafted affidavit does not provide probable cause to support the issuance of the warrant. The redrafted affidavit fails to show probable cause connecting Buccini or Buccini's home with the crime. While it shows that he possessed property of the type that might be connected with the crime, it also shows that this possession is explained and is not refuted by any facts cited in the affidavit. Further, the redrafted affidavit shows an alibi for the crime, and, again, the affidavit provides no facts indicating the alibi to be untrue or possibly untrue. Because the materiality of false statements or omissions is reviewed de novo, we need not accord any special deference to the trial judge's findings in this regard. See Grandstaff, 813 F.2d at 1355. However, in this case, given the importance of the alibi to the probable cause determination, we are compelled to agree with the trial judge's conclusion that had Kadous truthfully revealed the fact that Buccini had an alibi and witnesses, the magistrate would have been prompted to inquire whether Kadous had attempted to verify the alibi. Thus, the omission was material in that it rendered the affidavit substantially misleading and was also necessary to the finding of probable cause. See People v. Aston, 39 Cal.3d 481, 216 Cal. Rptr. 771, 780, 703 P.2d 111, 120 (1985) (citing People v. Kurland, 28 Cal.3d 376, 168 Cal. Rptr. 667, 618 P.2d 213 (1980)) (omissions are material where there is a substantial possibility that the omitted facts would have altered a reasonable magistrate's probable cause determination). [10] We realize that probable cause is a somewhat fluid concept that turns on the assessment of probabilities in particular factual contexts. Gates, 462 U.S. at 232, 103 S.Ct. at 2329. We also agree that [r]easonable minds frequently may differ on the question whether a particular affidavit establishes probable cause.... United States v. Leon, 468 U.S. 897, 914, 104 S.Ct. 3405, 3416, 82 L.Ed.2d 677 (1984). However, even if this were a close case on the probable cause finding, policy considerations militate in favor of resolving this probable cause determination in the defendant's favor. The rule in non- Franks cases considers the general presumption of validity of a search warrant and the deference given to a magistrate's determination of probable cause in concluding that in a doubtful or marginal case a search under a warrant may be sustainable where without one it would fail. See 2 W. LA FAVE, SEARCH & SEIZURE § 4.4 at 199 (2d ed. 1987) (quoting United States v. Ventresca, 380 U.S. 102, 85 S.Ct. 741, 13 L.Ed.2d 684 (1965)). The same rule, however, does not apply to a Franks case. To the contrary: [W]hen it has been established that the earlier finding of probable cause was based upon a broader set of facts, some of which are now shown to be false, there is no longer any reason to give deference to that earlier finding. Thus, when a court reassesses a search warrant affidavit with the false allegations excised, a doubtful or marginal case should be resolved in the defendant's favor. That is, in such circumstances the probable cause determination should be made as it would upon a motion to suppress evidence obtained without a warrant. Id. The policy underlying Franks seeks to mitigate the dangers of the ex parte procedure used to obtain a search warrant, and to deter over-zealous officers from supplying false information in their efforts to obtain access to the constitutionally protected privacy of one's home or car. See Franks, 438 U.S. at 168-169, 98 S.Ct. at 2682-83. We firmly adhere to these policies and believe that where the officer has deliberately or recklessly made material misstatements and omissions in the original affidavit, it is appropriate to resolve marginal probable cause determinations in such a manner as will best uphold the integrity of the fourth amendment.