Opinion ID: 1318244
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: the four corners requirement

Text: The defendant contends the trial court erred in considering at the suppression hearing facts other than those set out in the affidavit in order to determine if there was sufficient probable cause for the issuance of the search warrant. At the suppression hearing, testimony was taken from the magistrate who had issued the search warrant and from one of the affiant police officers. The suppression hearing occurred some two and one-half months after the issuance of the search warrant. The magistrate testified that, in addition to the search warrant affidavit, he questioned the affiant police officers to determine whether the confidential informant was reliable before issuing the challenged search warrant. He did not place the officers under oath. One of the affiant police officers confirmed the magistrate's testimony. The officers' testimony was not in any manner contemporaneously recorded and incorporated by reference into the search warrant affidavit. The trial court judge concluded that probable cause had existed for the issuance of the search warrant based on the affidavit and the testimony of the magistrate and one of the affiant police officers. The question presented is whether it is proper for a court to look outside the four corners of a search warrant affidavit and consider at a suppression hearing testimony that was given to the magistrate at the time the warrant was issued in order to determine if there was adequate probable cause to issue the warrant. We intimated our answer to this question in State v. White, ___ W.Va. ___, ___, 280 S.E.2d 114, 119 (1981), where we discussed in footnote 3 the impact of Rule 41(c) of the West Virginia Rules of Criminal Procedure (W.Va.R.Cr.P.): We do not reach, and therefore do not decide, the question of whether a warrant that is insufficient on its face may be upheld by subsequent testimony about information actually given the issuing judge but not contained in the affidavit or warrant. We note, however, that this clearly will be unacceptable after October of this year when the new W.Va. Rules of Criminal Procedure, Rule 41(c) takes effect. That rule states that any information that the issuing judicial officer finds important to his decision to issue a search warrant must be taken under oath and incorporated into the affidavit. As a matter of common sense and judicial efficiency, this is certainly the better practice. (Emphasis in original). Rule 41(c), W.Va.R.Cr.P., which became effective on October 1, 1981, controls the search warrant in this case since it was issued on April 6, 1983. Rule 41(c) enables a magistrate or judge to flesh out an affidavit or warrant by examining under oath the affiant and any witnesses he may produce, provided that such proceeding shall be taken down by a court reporter or recording equipment and made part of the affidavit. [6] Our Rule 41(c) is substantially identical to Rule 41(c) of the Federal Rules of Criminal Procedure, as amended in 1972. The federal courts have generally held that the determination of probable cause for issuance of a search warrant must be based solely on the facts contained within the four corners of the affidavit. Consequently, subsequent testimony from the affiant or the judicial official who issued the warrant cannot be considered in determining whether a warrant is valid. United States v. Sellers, 520 F.2d 1281 (4th Cir.1975), rev'd on other grounds, 424 U.S. 961, 96 S.Ct. 1453, 47 L.Ed.2d 728 (1976); United States v. Acosta, 501 F.2d 1330 (5th Cir. 1974), modified, 509 F.2d 539, cert. denied, 423 U.S. 891, 96 S.Ct. 188, 46 L.Ed.2d 122 (1975); United States v. Mendel, 578 F.2d 668 (7th Cir.1978), cert. denied, 439 U.S. 964, 99 S.Ct. 450, 58 L.Ed.2d 422 (1978); United States v. Rubio, 727 F.2d 786 (9th Cir.1983); United States v. Hittle, 575 F.2d 799 (10th Cir.1978); Annot., 24 A.L.R.Fed. 107 (1975). [7] The policy behind Rule 41(c), as commonly expressed, is reflected in this passage from United States v. Hittle, 575 F.2d at 802: The underlying rationale of the [1972] amendment to Rule 41(c) is important, and the note to the amendment is instructive: `If testimony is taken it must be recorded, transcribed, and made part of the affidavit or affidavits. This is to insure an adequate basis for determining the sufficiency of the evidentiary grounds for the issuance of the search warrant if that question should later arise.' Fed.R.Crim.P. 41(c). It is apparent the reason for adopting this procedural safeguard is to assure that the constitutional rights involved are adequately protected. The probable cause requirement would be significantly weakened if a court can rely on the recollection of those concerned to support a probable cause finding long after the search warrant has been issued. See Justice Brennan and Justice Marshall's dissent in Christofferson v. Washington, 393 U.S. 1090, 89 S.Ct. 855, 21 L.Ed.2d 783, upon a denial of certiorari. See 2 W. LaFave, Search and Seizure § 4.3(b) (1978). [8] It also appears that a majority of state courts which have considered the question, follow the rule that search warrants may be issued only upon affidavit and that the affidavit cannot be supplemented or bolstered by subsequent testimony at a suppression hearing. E.g., State v. White, 707 P.2d 271 (Alaska App.1985); People v. Brethauer, 174 Colo. 29, 482 P.2d 369 (1971) (En Banc); Blue v. State, 441 So.2d 165, 167 n. 1 (Fla.App.1983); State v. Daniel, 373 So.2d 149 (La.1979); Commonwealth v. Simmons, 450 Pa. 624, 626, 301 A.2d 819, 820 (1973); State v. Appleton, 297 A.2d 363, 367 (Me.1972); State v. Hendrickson, 701 P.2d 1368 (Mont.1985); State v. Smith, 281 N.W.2d 430 (S.D.1979); Hall v. State, 394 S.W.2d 659 (Tex.Crim.App. 1965); contra State v. Jansen, 15 Wash. App. 348, 549 P.2d 32 (1976). Thus, we conclude that under Rule 41(c), W.Va.R.Cr.P., it is improper for a circuit court to permit testimony at a suppression hearing concerning information not contained in the search warrant affidavit to bolster the sufficiency of the affidavit unless such information had been contemporaneously recorded at the time the warrant was issued and incorporated by reference into the search warrant affidavit. An additional flaw is found with the suppression hearing testimony in this case. It is undisputed that the police officers were not under oath when they gave information about the reliability of the informant to the magistrate. Both the Fourth Amendment to the United States Constitution and Article III, Section 6 of our Constitution provide that no warrant shall issue except upon probable cause supported by oath or affirmation. [9] There is virtual unanimity that a warrant may not issue on unsworn testimony, as indicated in Frazier v. Roberts, 441 F.2d 1224, 1227 (8th Cir. 1971): Lower federal courts on the point are rare, since most searches in federal criminal cases are conducted under rule 41 of the Federal Rules of Criminal Procedure. The nearly unanimous view is that the Fourth Amendment requires that only information related to the magistrate on Oath or affirmation is competent upon which to base a finding of probable cause; that unsworn oral statements may not form a basis for that decision. (Footnotes omitted; citations omitted). Accord United States v. Sellers, 520 F.2d at 1282 n. 1; Tabasko v. Barton, 472 F.2d 871 (6th Cir.1972), cert. denied, 412 U.S. 908, 93 S.Ct. 2288, 36 L.Ed.2d 974 (1973) (relying on text of Fourth Amendment); Lunsford v. State, 262 Ark. 1, 552 S.W.2d 646 (1977); State ex rel. Townsend v. District Court, 168 Mont. 357, 363, 543 P.2d 193, 196 (1975); State v. Schmeets, 278 N.W.2d 401 (N.D.1979); State v. Shepcaro, 45 Ohio App.2d 293, 344 N.E.2d 352 (1975). We reached the same conclusion in State ex rel. Lewis v. Warth, 131 W.Va. 437, 440, 48 S.E.2d 6, 8 (1948), where we held that a search warrant issued on the unsworn motion of the prosecutor was invalid because it was not made under oath.