Opinion ID: 1262377
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: The Search of Iden's Residence

Text: The initial basis of the court's ruling suppressing evidence seized from Iden's residence was that the affidavit failed to allege probable cause for the search. In the court's view the affidavit disclosed that the officers had information making it more likely that Mr. Amezquita and Mr. Hearty had the information in their possession, rather than Iden, and, therefore, there is simply no probable cause to believe that those items were present in the Iden residence. We conclude that the court applied an unduly restrictive standard of probable cause in its suppression ruling. The standard of probable cause seeks not only to safeguard citizens from rash and unreasonable interferences with privacy but also to give fair leeway for enforcing the law in the community's protection. Brinegar v. United States, 338 U.S. 160, 176, 69 S.Ct. 1302, 1311, 93 L.Ed. 1879, 1891 (1949). Probable cause is measured by reasonableness, not by pure mathematical probability: Hostility to seizures based on mere suspicion was a prime motivation for the adoption of the Fourth Amendment, and decisions immediately after its adoption affirmed that `common rumor or report, suspicion, or even strong reason to suspect was not adequate to support a warrant for arrest.'... The familiar threshold standard of probable cause for Fourth Amendment seizures reflects the benefit of extensive experience accommodating the factors relevant to the `reasonableness' requirement of the Fourth Amendment, and provides the relative simplicity and clarity necessary to the implementation of a workable rule. Dunaway v. New York, 442 U.S. 200, 213, 99 S.Ct. 2248, 2257, 60 L.Ed.2d 824, 836 (1979). In a search pursuant to warrant the constitutional standard of probable cause requires that the affidavit allege sufficient facts to warrant a person of reasonable caution in the belief that contraband or evidence of criminal activity is located on the premises to be searched. See, e.g., United States v. Ventresca, 380 U.S. 102, 85 S.Ct. 741, 13 L.Ed.2d 684 (1965); People v. Ball, Colo., 639 P.2d 1078 (1982). In determining whether the constitutional standard has been satisfied, the affidavit must be interpreted in a common sense and realistic fashion and courts should not impose technical requirements of elaborate specificity. United States v. Ventresca, supra, 380 U.S. at 108, 85 S.Ct. at 746, 13 L.Ed.2d at 689; accord, People v. Ball, supra ; People v. Lindholm, 197 Colo. 270, 591 P.2d 1032 (1979). In this case the court applied a more probable than not standard as measured by mathematical probability. In the case of multiple suspects, this standard would transform the rule of reasonableness into a rule of mutual exclusivity in the determination of probable cause to search. Under this more restrictive standard a court would be unable to issue search warrants for the homes or offices of multiple suspects whenever there is a greater likelihood of locating the evidence in one location as opposed to the others, notwithstanding the existence of reasonable cause short of mathematical probability to search all locations. Only in the event that the initial search of the more likely location proved less than completely successful could a search warrant issue for the next more likely location, as determined by a comparative analysis among the remaining locations. The consequences which such a standard holds out for law enforcement are not insubstantial. Pending the issuance and execution of warrants for the next more likely location, there is nothing to prevent a timely warning by an occupant of the premises first searched to the occupants of the unsearched locations that a search is imminent, thereby endangering the loss or destruction of evidence at these latter locations. We reject this more probable than not standard as a constitutional measure of probable cause. See Model Code of Pre-Arraignment Procedure § 120.1, comment 4(b) at 294-96 (1975). In the case of multiple suspects, for each of whom there are reasonable grounds to believe they participated in a particular criminal offense, probable cause to search means no more than a showing of reasonable grounds to believe incriminating evidence is present on the premises to be searched. This interpretation of probable cause accords with our numerous past decisions which consistently have equated probable cause with reasonable grounds  and not necessarily mathematical probability  in the resolution of suppression issues. See e.g., People v. Vigil, 198 Colo. 185, 597 P.2d 567 (1979); People v. Saars, 196 Colo. 294, 584 P.2d 622 (1978); People v. Weinert, 174 Colo. 71, 482 P.2d 103 (1971); Gonzales v. People, 156 Colo. 252, 398 P.2d 236 (1965). The affidavit, when measured by the standard of reasonableness and read in a common sense manner, establishes probable cause to search Iden's residence. It recites facts indicating that the motivation for the extortion scheme was the alleged theft of Iden's money and gems being held for him by Hearty. It also establishes that Iden, with the assistance of Hearty and Amezquita, targeted Kevin Engel as the alleged thief and utilized the alleged extortion scheme and the concomitant surveillance to retrieve some of Iden's stolen money. In addition, the affidavit includes facts establishing the likely existence of photographs, rental car documents, and other records pertaining to the surveillance of the Engels. Since Iden as the alleged victim of the theft was the principal beneficiary of the extortion efforts, there were reasonable grounds to believe that evidence of the surveillance would be located at the Iden residence on May 12, 1981, the date the search warrant issued.
The district court also based its suppression ruling upon the purported staleness of the facts recited in the affidavit. We do not agree with the court's conclusion in this respect. The affidavit alleged not a single incident but a series of transactions which commenced on March 8, 1981, and were still continuing on April 26, 1981, when Engel contacted Amezquita about the return of his Porsche automobile. Indeed, according to the affidavit, Skinner discussed the Engel matter with Iden as late as May 4, 1981, at Iden's place of business, and from all indications the extortion efforts were still being actively pursued at that time. The interval between the time frame during which these events occurred and the date of the warrant's issuance, May 12, 1981, was not such as to invalidate the affidavit as stale. See, e.g., People v. Schmidt, 172 Colo. 285, 473 P.2d 698 (1970); People v. Ball, supra . On the contrary, the continuity and timing of the events described in the affidavit support the conclusion that seizable objects were present in Iden's residence when the warrant was issued.
We next consider the seizure of the cocaine and narcotics paraphernalia from the leather bag recovered in the bedroom of the Iden residence. In suppressing this evidence the court ruled that although the leather bag was in plain view, the officer had no right to search the inside of the bag. We believe the court's ruling reflects a misapplication of the plain view doctrine to the facts of this case. A plain view seizure is permissible under the following circumstances: there must be a prior valid intrusion; the discovery of the evidence must be inadvertent; and the officer must have reasonable cause to believe that the exposed item is incriminating. E.g., Coolidge v. New Hampshire, 403 U.S. 443, 91 S.Ct. 2022, 29 L.Ed.2d 564 (1971); People v. Franklin, Colo., 640 P.2d 226 (1982); People v. Stoppel, Colo., 637 P.2d 384 (1981); People v. Torand, Colo., 622 P.2d 562 (1981); People v. Harding, Colo., 620 P.2d 245 (1980). In the instant case the initial intrusion into the Iden residence was justified by virtue of the search warrant. That warrant authorized the officers to search for an automobile title and any documents pertaining to the recent surveillance conducted on the Engels. In searching for these documentary items the officers legitimately could open bags and pouches to determine whether the materials sought were located inside these closed objects. The suppression testimony in this case establishes without dispute that the cocaine and narcotic paraphernalia were discovered in this very fashion. Given the highly incriminating character of these objects as contraband, there was no constitutional prohibition against their seizure under the plain view doctrine.