Court Opinion

ID: 9856962
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-09-24 07:08:37.006731+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T09:37:36.366142
License: Public Domain

PETERS, J.
I dissent.
The affidavit here involved did not justify the issuance of a warrant permitting a nighttime search. The warrant so providing was void. The pertinent code section requires a showing of “good cause” before such a warrant may issue. None was shown here.
The opinion of the District Court of Appeal, in this case, properly disposed of the issue. I adopt as part of my dissent the following portions of that opinion written by Mr. Justice Taylor of the First Appellate District, Division Two (Solis v. Superior Court (Cal.App.) 45 Cal.Rptr. 127, 128):
The crucial question is whether the affidavit legally justifies the court’s warrant allowing the nighttime search and arrest made in this ease. If the affidavit is not sufficient, the evidence upon which defendants are charged was obtained by an illegal search and seizure and cannot be relied upon in support of a criminal complaint (People v. Reeves, 61 Cal.2d 268 [38 Cal.Rptr. 1, 391 P.2d 393]).
Prior to 1961, Penal Code section 1533 provided: “The magistrate must insert a direction in the warrant that it be served in the day-time, unless the affidavits are positive that the property is on the person or in the place to he searched, in which case he may insert a direction that it be searched at any time of the night or day.” (Italics supplied.)
In 1961, section 1533 was amended to read as follows: “On a showing of good cause therefor, the magistrate may, in his discretion, insert a direction in the warrant that it may be served at any time of the day or night; in the absence of such a direction, the warrant may be served only in the daytime. ’’ (Italics added.)
Thus, whereas previous to 1961 the affidavit had to be positive that the item was on the person or property to permit a nighttime search, such a search is now permitted if “good cause” therefor is shown in the affidavit.
There are no California cases defining the use of the term “good cause” in section 1533. It is clear, however, from a *778reading of that section, both before and after its 1961 amendment, that the Legislature was reluctant to approve night searches in the absence of some indication that a day search would not serve the required purpose. Although the 1961 amendment permits the issuing magistrate greater discretion in the matter, some reasonable showing must nevertheless be made to support a nighttime search.
Had the affidavit stated that known narcotic addicts frequented the premises at night or that defendants were more likely to be present during the night hours, the warrant might well have been justified. But the affidavit does not relate any acts occurring on the premises at night nor any necessity that the warrant be served at night. In fact, it does not request the issuance of a warrant serviceable at night. The bare allegation of a continuous pattern of serious criminal activity does not, as contended by the Attorney General, relate to the necessity of serving the warrant at night. It does not even present the issue to the magistrate.
No cause having been stated in the affidavit for the issuance of a warrant serviceable at night, we can only conclude that the affidavit was devoid of the “good cause” required under section 1533. The evidence upon which the information in this case was predicated having thus been obtained by an illegal search and seizure, the defendants’ trial must be restrained (Castaneda v. Superior Court, 59 Cal.2d 439 [30 Cal.Rptr. 1, 380 P.2d 641]; Badillo v. Superior Court, 46 Cal.2d 269, 271 [294 P.2d 23]) and we need not consider the remaining issues raised in defendants’ petition.
To the foregoing quoted portion of Justice Taylor’s opinion, I wish to add: It should be emphasized that the affidavit does not mention or even hint that any of the offenses herein described occurred at night, or that there was any emergency. The main information relied on in the affidavit given to the officer was about an event that happened on October 21, 1964. We are not told whether the observations then made were made at night or in the daytime. Thereafter, certain transactions were observed, hut again we are not told whether they occurred during the day or at nighttime. The warrant was not issued until December 16, 1964. Certainly, under such circumstances, no emergency could possibly exist, or no necessity for a nighttime search. There is absolutely nothing in the affidavit to indicate that a nighttime search was necessary. The majority seek to find the *779“good cause” required by the statute by engaging in a form of claimed judicial notice—that narcotic offenses are serious and frequently engaged in at night. Of course, a great many crimes are serious and normally occur at night. That has nothing to do with whether in the particular case “good cause” has been shown for a night search. The majority have simply written that requirement out of the statute.
The search of a person’s home is a drastic police measure at best. It should be resorted to only in cases where the officers have made a clear showing of necessity. When the Legislature has laid down limitations on such police intrusion, the courts should not evade them under the guise of interpretation. (United States v. Palma, 295 F. 149, 152.) The court should be on its guard to preserve the constitutional and legislative safeguards set up to prevent an abuse of the process. (United States v. Musgrave, 293 F. 203.) Statutes preventing nighttime searches should be strictly construed, and the court should be vigilant to see that statutory protections are observed and enforced. Narcotic eases do not constitute any exception to the general rule.
I would issue the writ of prohibition.