Court Opinion

ID: 9734088
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-26 17:25:10.277805+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T18:26:45.577647
License: Public Domain

Dissenting Opinion by
Van der Voort, J.:
I must respectfully dissent.
In my view, the majority in this case has taken an overly technical approach to the evaluation of the in*242formation supplied to the Magistrate in the search warrant application. This technical approach is not only inappropriate, but is contrary to the guidelines announced by the United States Supreme Court: “If the teachings of the Court’s cases are to be followed and the constitutional policy served, affidavits for search warrants, such as the one involved here, must be tested and interpreted by magistrates and courts in a commonsense and realistic fashion. They are normally drafted by nonlawyers in the midst and haste of a criminal investigation. Technical requirements of elaborate specificity once exacted under common law pleadings have no proper place in this area. A grudging or negative attitude by reviewing courts toward warrants will tend to discourage police officers from submitting their evidence to a judicial officer before acting.” [Emphasis supplied] United States v. Ventresca, 380 U.S. 102, 108 (1965).
The whole basis for the majority’s holding is a judicial presumption that when “transactions occurred ‘within’ a given period ... it must be assumed that the transactions took place in the most remote part of the given period.” The application of this little used presumption is in direct diametrical opposition to the “common-sense”, “realistic” approach the courts must follow. If we were to engage in a “war” of presumptions, we should not ignore the longstanding legal maxim that once a fact or condition is shown to exist, its existence, absent contrary evidence, is presumed to continue. See Zuback v. Bakmaz, 346 Pa. 279, 29 A.2d 473 (1943); Hertz v. Record Publishing Co. of Erie, 219 F. 2d 397 (3d Cir. 1955), cert. denied 349 U.S. 912, 75 S. Ct. 601, 99 L. Ed. 1247.
However, I believe no amount of trading in presumptions could ever overcome the fact that the information supplied to the Magistrate in this case was sufficient to compel a common sense conclusion that the appellant was a then current possessor and seller of drugs. The Magis*243trate was advised that the informant had purchased drugs more than a dozen times within two months preceding the date of the affidavit. It defies logic to assume all of these purchases were made at the beginning of the two month period. I think a common sense and realistic approach demands a conclusion that all of the 13 or more drug purchases were part of a lengthy series of transactions within a two month period, rather than 13 purchases in one week, some two months before the date the affidavit was made. As was pointed out by Chief Justice Burger in discussing a contention of staleness of information in the case of United States v. Harris, 403 U.S. 573, 579, 91 S. Ct. 2075, 29 L. Ed.2d 723, 731 (1971) (See footnote denoted by an asterisk “*”) : “The informant reported having purchased whiskey from ‘respondent within the past two weeks,’ which could well include purchases up to the date of the affidavit.”
Lastly, I note that cases like Commonwealth v. Suppa, 223 Pa. Superior Ct. 513 (1973) and Commonwealth v. Bove, 221 Pa. Superior Ct. 345 (1972), which are cited by the majority for support concerning “staleness” of information supplied in an application for a warrant, likewise provide support for my conclusions. These cases discuss the fact that probable cause may be found, despite an allegation of criminal activity at an earlier time, if there is evidence that the criminal activity continued. I believe a record of 13 or more drug purchases within a two month period evaluated in the light of common sense reasonably shows a continuous pattern of such activity throughout that time period.
I would affirm the conviction.
Watkins, P.J., and Price, J., join in this dissenting opinion.