Opinion ID: 444031
Heading Depth: 5
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Fries's Tip

Text: 38 Roberts argues that Fries's tip was not a sufficiently reliable basis for establishing probable cause. Roberts concedes that the tip was against Fries's penal interest because Fries admitted that he broke into Roberts's residence. Roberts, however, points to two reasons why the magistrate should not have considered Fries's tip in determining probable cause--Fries did not indicate when he had broken into Roberts's residence and did not offer any reason to believe that the marijuana growing operation was ongoing. 39 In the leading case on admissions against penal interest, United States v. Harris, 403 U.S. 573, 583-84, 91 S.Ct. 2075, 2081-82, 29 L.Ed.2d 723 (1971), the Court noted that [a]dmissions of crime, like admissions against proprietary interests, carry their own indicia of credibility--sufficient at least to support a finding of probable cause to search. The Court conceded that admissions of crime do not always lend credibility to contemporaneous or later accusations of another, but found that in the case before it the admission was sufficient to establish probable cause because the informant admitted to committing currently and over a long period of time the crime that provided him with the information. Id. 40 In our case, Fries admitted to having broken in but did not say when the entry occurred. So it is arguable that Fries's tip would not, standing alone, be sufficient to establish probable cause--it gave no indication that a marijuana growing operation was currently in existence at Roberts's residence. Nevertheless, under Gates, the magistrate considered the tip under the totality of the circumstances and this court must accord his finding of probable cause great deference. 103 S.Ct. at 2328, 2331. Although Fries's tip may not have established probable cause by itself, when considered in conjunction with the anonymous caller's tip and the agents' observations, it contributes to the conclusion that there was a fair probability that contraband would be found at Roberts's residence. 41