Court Opinion

ID: 9590599
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-21 23:56:20.435406+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T09:35:45.027379
License: Public Domain

FITZPATRICK, Judge,
concurring in part and dissenting in part.
I agree with the majority’s conclusion that the affidavit in this case failed to establish probable cause. The affidavit clearly did not link the marijuana found in the Dinwiddie field to appellants’ residence at 803 Pine Avenue in Hopewell. However, I respectfully disagree with the majority’s conclusion that an exception to the good faith rule established in United States v. Leon, 468 U.S. 897 (1984), controls this case. Specifically, I disagree with the majority’s opinion concerning *656the standard to be used in evaluating the third exception to the Leon good faith rule—-whether a warrant is “based on an affidavit ‘so lacking in indicia of probable cause’ as to render official belief in its existence unreasonable.” Robinson v. Commonwealth, 19 Va.App. 642, 647, 453 S.E.2d 916, 918 (1995). Thus, I would hold that the Leon good faith exception to the exclusionary rule applies and would affirm the decision of the trial court.
The majority holds that the third exception to the Leon good faith rule mandates reversal because “the affidavit gave absolutely no indication that the fruits of criminal activity would probably be found at that location, rendering Agent Daniel’s belief in probable cause, based solely on the affidavit, objectively unreasonable.” Relying on United States v. Hove, 848 F.2d 137 (9th Cir.1988), the majority also holds “that the Leon exception does not extend ‘to allow the consideration of facts known only to an officer and not presented to a magistrate.’ ” Thus, the majority limits the consideration of whether an officer’s reliance on a warrant issued by a magistrate is reasonable to the facts contained in the affidavit alone.
I disagree with Hove’s analysis and would apply the standard used in United States v. Taxacher, 902 F.2d 867 (11th Cir.1990), cert. denied, 499 U.S. 919, 111 S.Ct. 1307, 113 L.Ed.2d 242 (1991), and United States v. Martin, 833 F.2d 752 (8th Cir.1987), cert. denied, 494 U.S. 1070, 110 S.Ct. 1793, 108 L.Ed.2d 794 (1990). In Taxacher, the Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit held that the test to be used in evaluating the third exception to the Leon good faith rule is “whether the officer acted in objective good faith under all the circumstances.” 902 F.2d at 871 (emphasis added). The Court recognized that “[t]he focus in Leon is on the officer. ‘[T]he officer’s reliance on the magistrate’s probable-cause determination and on the technical sufficiency of the warrant he issues must be objectively reasonable....’” Id. (quoting Leon, 468 U.S. at 922, 104 S.Ct. at 3420). The Court explained that the “reasonable jurist” language used in Leon was “merely intended to bolster the [Supreme] Court’s holding that the officer had acted reasonably under the circumstances; Leon did not *657establish a ‘reasonable jurist’ test as the threshold.” Id. at 872 (footnote omitted). Similarly, in Martin, the Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit recognized that, “[ajlthough we may not look to facts outside of the affidavit to determine probable cause, when assessing good faith we can and must look to the totality of the circumstances including what [the officer] knew but did not include in his affidavit.” 833 F.2d at 755-56 (citation omitted). As the Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit stated in Taxacher, the totality of circumstances standard for evaluating an officer’s reasonableness in relying on a warrant “comports with the language used in Leon, ... and is also consistent with the purposes underlying the exclusionary rule and the good faith exception.” 902 F.2d at 872.
In the instant case, the totality of the circumstances established that: (1) Agent Daniel located marijuana growing in a field in Dinwiddie County; (2) the police installed a video camera near the marijuana field; (3) the camera videotaped a man and woman watering the marijuana plants; (4) Agent Daniel surveilled the field and saw a red and silver truck on a dirt road near the field; (5) Agent Daniel saw the red and silver truck with a hose leading from the truck to a nearby creek; (6) Agent Daniel checked the license number of the truck and determined that the truck belonged to Thomas . Janis, who resided at 803 Pine Avenue in Hopewell, Virginia; and (7) Agent Daniel went to 803 Pine Avenue and saw the same red and silver truck that he had observed near the marijuana field. The affidavit submitted by Agent Daniel failed to disclose that he ran the license number of the truck, that he determined that the truck was registered to Thomas Janis, or that he saw the same red and silver truck parked at 803 Pine Avenue in Hopewell. However, based on the totality of the circumstances, once the magistrate issued the warrant based on the affidavit, Agent Daniel acted in objective good faith in relying on the warrant.
Therefore, I respectfully dissent from the majority’s opinion and would affirm the trial court.