Opinion ID: 1110208
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 6

Heading: Probable Cause and The Affidavit

Text: Pagan argues that his motion to suppress physical evidence obtained in a search of his residence should have been granted because there was no probable cause for the search, the affidavit in support of the search warrant contained false statements, and the police officers exceeded the scope of the warrant. [13] We disagree and affirm the trial court's ruling. As has often been stated, a trial court's ruling on a motion to suppress comes to the appellate court clothed with a presumption of correctness, and the reviewing court must interpret the evidence and reasonable inferences and deductions derived therefrom in a manner most favorable to sustaining the trial court's ruling. See Murray v. State, 692 So.2d 157 (Fla.1997). The reviewing court is bound by the trial court's factual findings if they are supported by competent, substantial evidence. See Butler v. State, 706 So.2d 100 (Fla. 1st DCA 1998). The trial court's determination of the legal issue of probable cause is, however, subject to the de novo standard of review. See Ornelas v. United States, 517 U.S. 690, 116 S.Ct. 1657, 134 L.Ed.2d 911 (1996); Connor v. State, 803 So.2d 598 (Fla.2001). In determining whether probable cause exists to justify a search, the trial court must make a judgment, based on the totality of the circumstances, as to whether from the information contained in the warrant there is a reasonable probability that contraband will be found at a particular place and time. See Illinois v. Gates, 462 U.S. 213, 103 S.Ct. 2317, 76 L.Ed.2d 527 (1983). As the Court in Gates put it: The task of the issuing magistrate is simply to make a practical, commonsense decision whether, given all the circumstances set forth in the affidavit before him ... there is a fair probability that contraband or evidence of a crime will be found in a particular place. And the duty of a reviewing court is simply to ensure that the magistrate had a substantial basis for ... conclud[ing] that probable cause existed. 462 U.S. at 238-39, 103 S.Ct. 2317. This determination must be made by examination of the four corners of the affidavit. See Schmitt v. State, 590 So.2d 404 (Fla. 1991); Delacruz v. State, 603 So.2d 707 (Fla. 2d DCA 1992). The affidavit must state that the affiant has personal knowledge of the confidential informant's veracity or the affidavit must contain sufficient independent corroborating evidence. As this Court said in State v. Peterson, 739 So.2d 561 (Fla.1999): Hearsay information provided by a confidential informant can be sufficient to support a search warrant, see State v. Wolff, 310 So.2d 729, 733 (Fla.1975), provided the affidavit satisfies the Gates test. See State v. Butler, 655 So.2d 1123, 1126-30 (Fla.1995). Veracity and basis of knowledge are among the factors to be considered in assessing the reliability of an informant's information. See Vasquez v. State, 491 So.2d 297, 299 (Fla. 3d DCA 1986). 739 So.2d at 564. When properly challenged, the affidavit must also be examined for omissions made with intent to deceive or with reckless disregard of whether such information should have been revealed to the magistrate. See Johnson v. State, 660 So.2d 648 (Fla.1995). The reviewing court must determine whether the omitted facts, if added to the affidavit, would have defeated probable cause and whether the omission resulted from intentional or reckless police conduct that amounts to deception. See State v. Van Pieterson, 550 So.2d 1162 (Fla. 1st DCA 1989). The inclusion of statements by innocent mistake is insufficient to defeat the authenticity of an affidavit. See Franks v. Delaware, 438 U.S. 154, 98 S.Ct. 2674, 57 L.Ed.2d 667 (1978). Even where a court finds the police acted deceptively, it must excise the erroneous material and determine whether the remaining allegations in the affidavit support probable cause. If the remaining statements are sufficient to establish probable cause, the false statement will not invalidate the resulting search warrant. See Terry v. State, 668 So.2d 954 (Fla. 1996). If, however, the false statement is necessary to establish probable cause, the search warrant must be voided, and the evidence seized as a result of the search must be excluded. See id. (citing Franks, 438 U.S. at 156, 98 S.Ct. 2674); see also Thorp v. State, 777 So.2d 385 (Fla.2000). In this case, an evidentiary hearing was held on the defense motion to suppress. Several witnesses testified at the hearing including Tameka Roberts, Anthony Graham's girlfriend. [14] Roberts testified that detectives questioned her about statements allegedly made by her mother, Sharon Foster, and about her knowledge of the homicides. She denied making the statement that according to Anthony Graham, Willie and Alex committed the murders. However, Detectives Manzella and Peluso testified that Anthony told Roberts that Willie and Alex had committed the murders and this information was relayed to Sharon Foster. Detective Manzella testified that the two confidential sources indicated in the affidavit for the search warrant were Sharon Foster and Wanda Jackson, Keith Jackson's wife. Foster called the police station anonymously on February 23, 1993, and indicated she had information about the homicides. The next day she met with Manzella and gave him information she heard on the street and from her daughter concerning Willie and Alex (Willie Graham and Alex Pagan). Foster told Manzella that Eric Miller planned the January and February burglaries of the Jones residence, and said her nephew, Darell Featherstone, received some proceeds from the burglary and a man named Alex was a participant. Manzella admitted that he failed to put Eric Miller's name in the affidavit or to indicate that a source of information was from the streets when referring to the information provided by Foster. Basically, the information Foster gave the police was first heard on the streets, then obtained from her daughter, Tameka Roberts, and while Foster indicated Miller planned the burglaries, she stated he did not commit the murders. The omission of these two minor details from the affidavit does not negate the fact that the information which was contained in the affidavit gave the magistrate a substantial basis for concluding that probable cause existed to search the Pagan's residence. See Illinois v. Gates . Detective Peluso testified he met with Wanda Jackson in the presence of Detective Manzella and showed her pictures of several individuals. She identified Willie Graham and said her husband told her Graham was involved in the murders. According to Detective Peluso, Wanda Jackson described the perpetrators as a Latin male named Alex who was between twenty-one and twenty-three and wore nice clothes; the other individual was a black male named Willie Graham. She had met both men at a party three weeks before the murders. Detective Peluso believed that Wanda Jackson's information was credible because her husband was a known associate of the defendants. The detectives were told that both Alex and Willie lived in Miramar, and this information was independently verified prior to application for the search warrant. The detectives opined that the information received from the confidential sources as well as the information received from Keith Jackson, a person named in the affidavit, was consistent with the known facts and with information obtained from the surviving adult victim. Pagan complains the police failed to say in the affidavit that Keith Jackson was both a source of information and a potential suspect and failed to name the two independent sources (Sharon Foster and Wanda Jackson). However, these claims are without merit. Keith Jackson was in fact named in the affidavit, and Detective Peluso admitted that although Keith Jackson was a suspect at the start of the investigation, he was no longer one when he finished giving his statement to the police on the evening of February 26, 1993. The affidavit did include the information that Keith Jackson initially denied any knowledge of the murders, and it included the information that Keith Jackson had been a codefendant with Willie Graham in a prior homicide. The omission of the fact that at one point Jackson was a suspect does not alter the fact that the information contained in the affidavit established probable cause for the search and the arrest. See Power v. State, 605 So.2d 856 (Fla.1992); State v. Schulze, 581 So.2d 610 (Fla. 2d DCA 1991). Pagan has failed to demonstrate that the trial court's ruling on the motion to suppress was error.