Opinion ID: 2563933
Heading Depth: 4
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Probable cause for issuance of the warrant

Text: (1) Defendant contends the affidavit supporting the initial Los Altos Police Department search warrant was insufficient for two reasons: (1) it did not establish a sufficient likelihood that contraband or evidence of the subject crimes would be found at defendant's home; and (2) the information in the affidavit was too stale to establish probable cause. These arguments lack merit. (2) In reviewing a search conducted pursuant to a warrant, an appellate court inquires whether the magistrate had a substantial basis for concluding a fair probability existed that a search would uncover wrongdoing. ( People v. Kraft (2000) 23 Cal.4th 978, 1040 [99 Cal.Rptr.2d 1, 5 P.3d 68], citing Illinois v. Gates (1983) 462 U.S. 213, 238-239 [76 L.Ed.2d 527, 103 S.Ct. 2317].) The task of the issuing magistrate is simply to make a practical, common-sense decision whether, given all the circumstances set forth in the affidavit before him [or her], including the `veracity' and `basis of knowledge' of persons supplying hearsay information, there is a fair probability that contraband or evidence of a crime will be found in a particular place. ( Illinois v. Gates, supra, 462 U.S. at p. 238.) The magistrate's determination of probable cause is entitled to deferential review. ( People v. Kraft, supra, 23 Cal.4th at p. 1041, citing Illinois v. Gates, supra, 462 U.S. at p. 236.) Probable cause sufficient for issuance of a warrant requires a showing that makes it `substantially probable that there is specific property lawfully subject to seizure presently located in the particular place for which the warrant is sought.' ( People v. Frank (1985) 38 Cal.3d 711, 744 [214 Cal.Rptr. 801, 700 P.2d 415], quoting People v. Cook (1978) 22 Cal.3d 67, 84, fn. 6 [148 Cal.Rptr. 605, 583 P.2d 130].) That showing must appear in the affidavit offered in support of the warrant. ( People v. Frank, supra, 38 Cal.3d at p. 744.) Defendant urges that the affidavit was deficient in failing to provide the necessary connection between each of the two crimes under investigation and the likelihood of finding evidence in defendant's home. The affidavit in support of the warrant obtained by the Los Altos Police Department stated the following. Defendant previously had worked as a janitor at Blackard Designs, located at 289 South San Antonio Road, Los Altos, in Santa Clara County. In December of 1991, defendant was fired from her job for stealing checks from offices in which she performed janitorial services. On the night of January 7, 1992, Blackard Designs was burglarized and a single blank check was stolen. On January 7 or 8, 1992, a nearby business, NDN Enterprises, located at 283 South San Antonio Road, was burglarized and two blank checks were stolen. Entry into NDN Enterprises was accomplished by removal of the hinge pins on the exterior door. On January 10, 1992, Christopher Mladineo attempted to cash the Blackard Designs check, which had been made out to him in the amount of $2,000. On March 16, 1992, Mladineo was arrested and told authorities that defendant had given him the check and asked him to cash it for her because she lacked proper identification. On March 16, 1992, officers had Mladineo make a pretextual telephone call to defendant, during which defendant admitted she had stolen the Blackard Designs check. [2] On March 19, 1992, an officer spoke with defendant's former employer who reported that, as part of her employment, defendant had a master key to 289 South San Antonio Road, and it was possible she had duplicated that key. As of March 20, 1992, the checks stolen from NDN Enterprises still were outstanding and no attempt had been made to cash them. The affidavit provided sufficient probable cause to support the belief that defendant had burglarized Blackard Designs and NDN Enterprises and that evidence from those crimesincluding a key to Blackard Designs and the checks stolen from NDN Enterprisescould be found at defendant's residence. The affidavit explicitly sets forth strong and specific evidence linking defendant to the Blackard Designs burglary. Based upon all the facts stated in the affidavit, a magistrate making a practical, commonsense decision, in light of all the facts set forth in the affidavit, could conclude with a fair probability that the person who burglarized Blackard Designs was the same person who burglarized NDN Enterprises: the two businesses were located in close proximity to each other, both businesses were burglarized on or about the same date, and in both burglaries blank checks were stolen. (3) The facts stated in the affidavit established a fair probability that the police would find evidence from the burglaries in defendant's residence. This court noted in People v. Gonzalez (1990) 51 Cal.3d 1179, 1206 [275 Cal.Rptr. 729, 800 P.2d 1159], that `[a] number of California cases have recognized that from the nature of the crimes and the items sought, a magistrate can reasonably conclude that a suspect's residence is a logical place to look for specific incriminating items. [Citations.]' ( People v. Miller (1978) 85 Cal.App.3d 194, 204 [149 Cal.Rptr. 204]; see also People v. Superior Court ( Brown ) (1975) 49 Cal.App.3d 160, 167-168 [122 Cal.Rptr. 459].). When property has been stolen by a defendant and has not yet been recovered, a fair probability exists that the property will be found at the defendant's home. (See People v. Stout (1967) 66 Cal.2d 184, 192-193 [57 Cal.Rptr. 152, 424 P.2d 704]; U.S. v. Maestas (5th Cir. 1977) 546 F.2d 1177, 1180.) Here, defendant at one time possessed a key to the Blackard Designs building. According to defendant's employer, defendant had the opportunity to make a copy of that key. Additionally, the two checks stolen from NDN Enterprises still were outstanding at the time of the search. As the affiant observed based upon his training and experience, subjects who steal checks with the intent to commit forgeries will maintain possession of those stolen checks until they can be cashed. It was reasonable to conclude that defendant's residence was the most likely place to find these items. Defendant contends there was no substantial evidence indicating that she possessed a key to Blackard Designs at the time the warrant was obtained. To the contrary, the affidavit contained circumstantial evidence indicating that such a key was in her possession: at one time defendant possessed a master key to Blackard Designs and had the opportunity to duplicate it before her employment there was terminated. The check was stolen during the month after defendant's termination; she had been in possession of the check and had attempted to have it cashed, and there was no indication of forced entry in the burglary of Blackard Designs. A key is the type of item one reasonably could expect a defendant to keep at home. The showing required in order to establish probable cause is less than a preponderance of the evidence or even a prima facie case. ( Illinois v. Gates, supra, 462 U.S. at p. 235.) The facts stated in the affidavit are sufficient to establish probable cause that defendant duplicated the master key to 289 South San Antonio Road, used it to gain access to the building following her termination, and continued to keep it in her home. (4) In the alternative, defendant contends that the information contained in the affidavit was too stale to provide probable cause for issuance of the search warrant, which occurred two months after the alleged burglaries. No bright-line rule defines the point at which information is considered stale. ( People v. Brown (1985) 166 Cal.App.3d 1166, 1169 [212 Cal.Rptr. 907].) Rather, the question of staleness depends on the facts of each case. ( People v. Gibson (2001) 90 Cal.App.4th 371, 380 [108 Cal.Rptr.2d 809].) If circumstances would justify a person of ordinary prudence to conclude that an activity had continued to the present time, then the passage of time will not render the information stale. ( People v. Hulland (2003) 110 Cal.App.4th 1646, 1652 [2 Cal.Rptr.3d 919].) Courts have upheld warrants despite delays between evidence of criminal activity and the issuance of a warrant, when there is reason to believe that criminal activity is ongoing or that evidence of criminality remains on the premises. (See, e.g., People v. Superior Court ( Bingham ) (1979) 91 Cal.App.3d 463 [154 Cal.Rptr. 157] [affidavit of a fire marshal indicated that three items of property allegedly destroyed in a fire had been in the defendant's continuous control for many months after the fire, and there was no reason to conclude that the defendant had disposed of such property during the few days between execution of the affidavit and the last day on which the property had been seen in his possession]; People v. Superior Court ( Brown ), supra, 49 Cal.App.3d at p. 167 [affidavit established probable cause to believe stolen items were in the defendant's residence one month after a burglary, where stolen items included credit cards and small antiques, items which would require protection from the elements and fortuitous harm]; U.S. v. Jacobs (9th Cir. 1983) 715 F.2d 1343 [affidavit was sufficient to support issuance of a search warrant for articles of clothing worn during a bank robbery, even though nearly four months had passed between the earliest bank robbery in which the clothing had been worn and the issuance of the warrant].) In the present case, the checks from NDN Enterprises still were outstanding two months after the burglary. In view of the nature of the items soughtthe outstanding checks still could be forged and cashed, and a key to Blackard Designs still could be useful to defendantthere existed a fair probability that these stolen items remained at defendant's residence despite the passage of time.