Opinion ID: 1937349
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: The Description in the Warrants of the Items to be Seized

Text: Both warrants authorized a search for the putative missing piece of the base of the Jolly Green Giant and one hundred pounds of tourmaline gem rough readily identifiable as being from the Dunton Mine in Newry, Maine and having certain described coloration. The supporting affidavit stated that certain named experts, including Dean McCrillis, could identify tourmaline from the Dunton Mine at Newry, Maine. However, the search warrant did not require any of those experts to be present at the search. According to the affidavit, McCrillis had stated that none of the owners of the original mining company in 1972 had any personal right to have or possess Maine tourmaline, but stated further that Dale Sweatt had received ten to twelve pounds of tourmaline in January, 1975, under the agreement by which he sold his interest in the mining corporation. There was nothing in the affidavit to explain why Sweatt could not have purchased or otherwise lawfully acquired more Maine tourmaline after 1975. The affidavit provided no basis for distinguishing unlawfully acquired tourmaline from tourmaline legally obtained. The Superior Court ruled that the description of the items that could properly be seized was unconstitutionally vague. The state contends that the description in the search warrant, although generic, was as specific as possible in the circumstances. Inferring from Carter's affidavit that the Sweatts could legally possess only twelve pounds of tourmaline from the Dunton Mine, and arguing that the description of Dunton Mine tourmaline in the warrants was sufficient because that kind of tourmaline is unique and readily identifiable by the experts named in the affidavit, the state argues that the police could properly seize any Dunton Mine tourmaline in excess of that amount. We disagree. A search warrant must describe the items to be seized with a particularity that will enable the searching police officer to identify them with certainty. Such particularity discourages general searches and prevents the unauthorized seizure of property under the mistaken belief that it falls within the authorization of the warrant. State v. Corbin, Me., 419 A.2d 362, 363 (1980). The seizable property must be identifiable before seizure; the warrant may not provide for a post-seizure determination of what items were properly taken. See, e. g., Lo-Ji Sales, Inc. v. New York, 442 U.S. 319, 99 S.Ct. 2319, 60 L.Ed.2d 920 (1979); United States v. Abrams, 615 F.2d 541 (1st Cir. 1980); United States v. Klein, 565 F.2d 183 (1st Cir. 1977). Generic descriptions are permissible only when the affidavits establish that any of the generically described goods found at the searched premises were likely to have been stolen and constituted a dominant part of the goods on the premises. United States v. Abrams, supra, at 545. Carter's affidavit did not show that any tourmaline found at the searched premises was likely to have been stolen. The presiding justice properly rejected any assumption that the Sweatts, dealers in gems, could not have purchased Dunton Mine tourmaline after Dale Sweatt left the mining corporation. Hence, the issue becomes whether, in the circumstances, the description of the tourmaline which could properly be seized was unconstitutionally generic. We concur in the court's conclusion that, in the circumstances, the search warrants lacked the particularity required by the Fourth Amendment. Although at the suppression hearing Detective Carter testified that he had received some informal training in identifying Dunton Mine tourmaline, that fact appears neither in the affidavit nor in the warrants. Furthermore, the warrants did not require Carter's presence at any search but were rather addressed to Hubert W. Carter, Jr., an authorized officer of the Maine State Police, or any other authorized police officer. None of the gem experts mentioned in Carter's affidavit were required by the warrants to attend the searches to identify Dunton Mine tourmaline. Even if the affidavit had adequately described Dunton Mine tourmaline gem rough, it still would have offered the police no guidance on how to distinguish the allegedly stolen tourmaline gem rough from any that might have been acquired legally. [7] Because any stolen tourmaline gem rough could have been identified, if at all, only after the seizure was completed, the warrants' description of the items to be seized was unconstitutionally general.