Court Opinion

ID: 9705807
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-26 01:21:46.770409+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T18:22:15.866369
License: Public Domain

ROGGENSACK, J.
(dissenting). Today the majority reverses Ward's conviction because it concludes there was not probable cause to issue the warrant which authorized the search of his residence, where 2,578 grams of marijuana, 180 grams of cocaine and various other articles associated with the sales of drugs were found. The majority opinion does so based on a standard that does not accord great deference to the common sense conclusions of the judge who issued the warrant; and therefore, I must respectfully dissent.
In order to prevail on appeal, Ward must prove that the evidence before the issuing judge was clearly insufficient to support the judge's conclusion that there was probable cause to issue the warrant. Bast v. State, 87 Wis. 2d 689, 692, 275 N.W.2d 682, 684 (1979). There are two elements of a probable cause determination which an issuer must make before a warrant can be issued: (1) the objects sought must be linked with the commission of a crime, and (2) there must be a fair probability that those objects will be found in the place to be searched. State v. Benoit, 83 Wis. 2d 389, 395, 265 N.W.2d 298, 301 (1978). Here, there is no question that the drugs and drug paraphernalia, if found, would be linked with the commission of a crime. Rather, the focus of the challenge to the warrant is on the judge's conclusion that there was a fair probability that drugs *337and drug paraphernalia would be found at Ward's residence.
This court accords "great deference" to the probable cause determinations of the issuing judge. State v. Higginbotham, 162 Wis. 2d 978, 989, 471 N.W.2d 24, 29 (1991). The facts supporting the warrant must be interpreted and tested in a common sense and realistic fashion, realizing they are "normally drafted by nonlawyers in the midst and haste of a criminal investigation. Technical requirements of elaborate specificity once enacted under common law pleadings have no proper place in this area." Id. at 991, 471 N.W.2d at 30 (quoting State v. Starke, 81 Wis. 2d 399, 410, 260 N.W.2d 739, 745 (1978) (further citations omitted)). If there is a "fair probability" that evidence of a crime may be found at the place specified in the warrant, there is probable cause to issue the warrant. Higginbotham, 162 Wis. 2d at 995, 471 N.W.2d at 31. In determining whether a fair probability exists, all reasonable inferences from the facts set out in support of the warrant may be considered by the issuer. Circumstantial evidence is probative, as well as direct evidence. See State v. Kerr, 181 Wis. 2d 372, 381, 511 N.W.2d 586, 589 (1994).
Here, the majority reverses because there was no specific statement in the affidavit that drugs were actually seen at Ward's residence. In so doing, it ignores the reasonable inferences which flow from the facts asserted in the affidavit in support of the warrant. For example, the warrant was issued for 1663 Royce, which the Beloit Police Department had identified as Ward's residence. The affiant, a veteran officer of the Beloit Police Department, had knowledge of several tips from reliable informants that Ward was selling drugs. In one tip, Ward was named as the supplier of *338Darrell Vance, who had been arrested with 3,311 grams of marijuana and other drugs in his possession. Therefore, the officer had information that Ward was not simply selling a small baggie or two of drugs, but rather, that he supplied drug dealers. A reasonable inference from the size of the cache at Vance's residence was that there would be large quantities of marijuana associated with Ward because he had supplied large quantities of drugs to Vance. Furthermore, the information identifying Ward as a drug dealer and as the supplier of Vance was received within a few days of the warrant being signed on December 4, 1996; therefore, it was fresh information.
It was reasonable for the issuing judge to believe that if Ward was supplying drug dealers, he had to keep large quantities of drugs somewhere. Therefore, the question presented by this appeal is whether, given the large quantities of marijuana that Ward was reported to have provided to Vance recently, it was a reasonable inference that he would have drugs and evidences of drug dealings in his home.
A similar question was addressed by the Wisconsin Supreme Court in Kerr. There, the court concluded that a search warrant for the motel room occupied by Kerr, who was not even a known drug dealer, but had merely behaved in a "suspicious"1 fashion when entering the motel, was valid. The court affirmed the warrant issuer's decision that there was probable cause to search Kerr's room because of the "practical common sense" manner in which those decisions are to *339be made and reviewed on appeal. Kerr, 181 Wis. 2d at 379, 511 N.W.2d at 588. Here, the case is much stronger for upholding the warrant because there was evidence, both from Vance and from confidential informants, that Ward was an active drug dealer and that he was providing large quantities of drugs to others. Knowing those facts increased the inference that there was a fair probability that Ward had drugs and drug paraphernalia hidden or stored in his home.2 While those facts do not create an "irrefutable inference" that drugs will be found in Ward's residence, such an inference is a reasonable inference, as Kerr teaches.
Higginbotham also focused on probable cause as it related to the location for which a search warrant was issued. There again, no one had actually seen the shoes, gloves and flammable liquids that were the subjects of the warrant. Rather, the location was identified because it was the residence of three persons who had been acting in a very suspicious manner subsequent to an attempted arson. Writing for the majority in Hig-ginbotham, Justice Bablitch clearly permits consideration of whether the sought after items are commonly kept at home, as a reasonable consideration for the issuer of a warrant.
Because of their nexus to the home, the Frasier property was a likely storage or hiding place for the *340sought-after shoes, gloves, and flammable liquids that could link the suspects to the crime. These are items commonly kept at the home.
Higginbotham, 162 Wis. 2d at 995-96, 471 N.W.2d at 32. In so reasoning, Justice Bablitch applied a common sense approach to the court's review of the issuer's decision and permitted the issuer to rely on all reasonable inferences from the facts presented. That is no different than what was asked of the issuing judge in this case. Here, the judge who issued the warrant on Ward's residence could have reasonably concluded that Ward stored or hid drugs in his house. According to that judge, it is a common occurrence for drug dealers.
Additionally, while I agree with' the majority's statement that this court is not "mandated" to adopt the Seventh Circuit's conclusions about the likelihood of finding drugs in the home of a drug dealer, we should also not ignore the common sense reasoning apparent in United States v. Singleton, 125 F.3d 1097 (7th Cir. 1997).3 Indeed, the standards set out in Singleton that "[i]n issuing a search warrant, a magistrate is given license to draw reasonable inferences concerning where the evidence referred to in the affidavit is likely to be kept, taking into account the nature of the evidence and the offense," id. at 1102, are so like those set out by the Wisconsin Supreme Court which has directed that we must accord "great deference" to the probable cause decisions of those who issue search warrants and their decisions must stand " 'unless the defendant establishes that the facts are clearly insuffi*341cient to support a finding of probable cause.'" Kerr, 181 Wis. 2d at 380, 511 N.W.2d at 589 (citing State v. Higginbotham, 162 Wis. 2d at 989, 471 N.W.2d at 29).
Because my analysis has led me to conclude that Ward has not met his burden of proving that the facts, and the reasonable inferences therefrom, contained in the affidavit in support of the warrant are "clearly insufficient" to support probable cause to believe that drugs and drug paraphernalia would be found in Ward's residence, I would affirm the decision of the circuit court in regard to the warrant, and I respectfully dissent from the majority opinion.4

 Kerr had paid for the room with cash. He had a metal suitcase which he did not want anyone to help him carry. He did not give a definite date for leaving the hotel. And a citizen informant thought that he might have a concealed weapon on him, though no weapon had actually been seen.

 Although I agree with the majority that just because the police have evidence that a person is selling drugs it does not always follow that he will keep them in his home, I do not believe "always" is the test established by Kerr and Higginbot-ham. Rather, the issuer of the warrant is to determine only whether it is "fairly probable" that given the large quantities of drugs Ward was believed to have, they could be present in his home.

 We have been advised by the Wisconsin Supreme Court that "Art. I, Sec. 11 of the Wisconsin Constitution and the Fourth Amendment of the United States Constitution [interpreted in Singleton] are substantially the same." State v. DeSmidt, 155 Wis. 2d 119, 129, 454 N.W.2d 780, 784 (1990).

 This dissent does not deal with whether a good faith exception exists for a no-knock warrant which was issued prior to the United States Supreme Court's decision in Richards v. Wisconsin, 520 U.S. 385 (1997), because the majority opinion has not addressed this concern and therefore, we may be in agreement.