Opinion ID: 2116666
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: The warrant conformed with Indiana law and was issued with a substantial basis.

Text: White's account to police was the principal basis for the probable cause affidavit. Houser contends that White's credibility as an informant was never established. Upon receiving a request for a search warrant, the task of the issuing magistrate is to make a common sense determination, based on the totality of the circumstances, that there is a fair probability that a particular place contains evidence of a crime. Gates, 462 U.S. at 238, 103 S.Ct. at 2332. In addition to these federal constitutional requirements, Indiana has prescribed by statute the minimum information that must be presented to show probable cause. When based on hearsay, as here, the affidavit must contain reliable information establishing the credibility of the source and of each of the declarants of the hearsay and establishing that there is a factual basis for the information furnished, or contain information that establishes that the totality of the circumstances corroborates the hearsay. IND.CODE § 35-33-5-2(b) (1993). In construing the predecessor to current IND.CODE § 35-33-5-2, we explained the logic underlying the statute: Recognizing the dangers inherent in hearsay . . . the Legislature incorporated specific requirements into the statute to assure that the hearsay constituting the probable cause was credible in the mind of the issuing authority and not merely in the mind of the affiant. Madden v. State, 263 Ind. 223, 225-26, 328 N.E.2d 727, 729 (1975) (emphasis deleted). Here the affidavit outlined sufficient facts to support issuing the warrantHouser told White that he had committed the murder and had hidden evidence related to it in Lee's Automotive. The basis for White's informationhe got it from Houseris plainly set forth. This case is wholly unlike, for example, Williams v. State, 528 N.E.2d 496, 499 (Ind.Ct.App.1988), trans. denied, where an affidavit was held deficient because it asserted that contraband was in a specific residence, but did not explain the basis for the informant's knowledge. The only real question presented in this case is whether, as the warrant statute requires: (1) White was a credible source; or (2) his hearsay statements were corroborated by surrounding circumstances described in the affidavit. Either is sufficient under the statute. Muncie police had never used White as a source before; thus there was no inherent basis for concluding that White was credible. Moreover, the affidavit was based on double hearsaythe officer seeking the warrant was reporting what Houser had allegedly told White. Obviously, if White's account of his conversation with Houser is reliable, the veracity of what Houser told White is fairly inferred from its incriminating nature. There also was reason to conclude that White was a credible source. First, as the officer noted, White's statements were incriminating of White as well as Houser because they suggested a conspiracy between White and Houser to rob Murphy. Declarations against penal interest can furnish sufficient basis for establishing the credibility of an informant within the meaning of IND.CODE § 35-33-5-2(b)(1). Nash v. State, 433 N.E.2d 807, 809-10 (Ind.Ct.App.1982) (construing predecessor statute). More importantly, White's information was corroborated by the totality of the circumstances. As set forth in the affidavit, Houser's statements to White about the crime scene matched those personally observed by the officer who sought the warrant. In particular, the officer had observed Murphy's rear door pried open and the same detail appeared in White's report of Houser's admission. Murphy's wallet hidden at Lee's Automotive was consistent with the police's independent conclusion that robbery was the probable motive for the murder. The affidavit reported hearsay that contained details that could be known only to someone involved with the crime. That was sufficient corroboration within the meaning of IND.CODE § 35-33-5-2(b)(2) to support issuing the search warrant in this case. The magistrate made the required independent determination that White's statements were sufficiently corroborated to establish probable cause. This determination, in addition to meeting the Indiana statute, meets the requirements of a substantial basis to support the warrant. [5]