Court Opinion

ID: 9474513
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-05 04:59:58.845246+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T17:44:08.672287
License: Public Domain

*653CONTIE, Circuit Judge,
dissenting.
I agree with the majority that appellant Smith lacks standing to challenge the search of appellant Helton’s residence,1 and that the entry by Officer Stewart onto Helton’s driveway did not violate the Fourth Amendment.2 However, because I believe that our Constitution requires, under the facts of this case, that the state demonstrate probable cause prior to conducting a search of a citizen’s home, and that the failure to demonstrate such requires exclusion of the illegally obtained evidence, I dissent.
I.
Consideration of informants’ tips in the context of probable cause determinations was reviewed in Illinois v. Gates, 462 U.S. 213, 103 S.Ct. 2317, 76 L.Ed.2d 527 (1983), where the Court rejected rigid application of the “reliability” and “basis of knowledge” prongs of the Aguilar/Spinelli test in favor of evaluating such tips in the “totality of the circumstances.” See United States v. Nigro, 727 F.2d 100, 103-04 (6th Cir.1984). Under Gates, “a deficiency in one [element] may be compensated for, in determining the overall reliability of a tip, by a strong showing as to the other, or by some other indicia of reliability.” 462 U.S. at 233, 103 S.Ct. at 2329. Accordingly, information from an informant with a record for reliability might be credited despite lack of evidence regarding the informant’s basis of knowledge, while, likewise, a detailed tip indicating the means by which it was acquired might also be credited even in the absence of evidence of reliability. A tip’s reliability may also be established through corroboration of the details of the tip by independent information. Id. at 241-43, 103 S.Ct. at 2333-34. That an informant is accurate with respect to the corroborated facts, makes it more likely that the informant is accurate with respect to other information communicated. See generally United States v. Arenal, 768 F.2d 263, 266-67 (8th Cir.1985); United States v. Marin, 761 F.2d 426, 430-32 (7th Cir.1985); United States v. Strand, 761 F.2d 449, 452 (8th Cir.1985); Worthington v. United States, 726 F.2d 1089, 1094 (6th Cir.1984) (Contie, J., concurring), cert. denied, — U.S. -, 105 S.Ct. 109, 83 L.Ed.2d 53 (1984); United States v. Francesco, 725 F.2d 817, 823 (1st Cir.1984); United States v. Freitas, 610 F.Supp. 1560, 1566 (N.D.Cal.1985).
However, “after-the-fact scrutiny by courts of the sufficiency of an affidavit should not take the form of de novo review. A magistrate’s ‘determination of probable cause should be paid great deference by reviewing courts.’ ” Gates, 462 U.S. at 236, 103 S.Ct. at 2331. Further, “probable cause requires only a probability or substantial chance of criminal activity....” Id. at 244 n. 13, 103 S.Ct. at 2335 n. 13. “An affidavit must provide the magistrate with a substantial basis for determining the existence of probable cause____” Id. at 239, 103 S.Ct. at 2332.
The task of the issuing magistrate is simply to make a practical, commonsense decision whether, given all the circumstances set forth in the affidavit before him, including the “veracity” and “basis of knowledge” of persons supply*654ing hearsay information, there is a fair probability that contraband or evidence of a crime will be found in a particular place. And the duty of a reviewing court is simply to ensure that the magistrate had a “substantial basis for ... concluding]” that probable cause existed.
Id. at 238-39, 103 S.Ct. at 2332-33; United States v. Lambert, 771 F.2d 83, 92-93 (6th Cir.1985); United States v. Pritchard, 745 F.2d 1112, 1120-21 (7th Cir.1984); United States v. Young, 745 F.2d 733, 757-58 (2d Cir.1984), cert. denied, — U.S. -, 105 S.Ct. 1842, 85 L.Ed.2d 142 (1985); United States v. Savoca, 739 F.2d 220, 224 (6th Cir.1984); United States v. Jenkins, 728 F.2d 396, 398 (6th Cir.1984); United States v. Freitas, 716 F.2d 1216, 1225 (9th Cir.1983); United States v. Ross, 713 F.2d 389, 393 (8th Cir.1983).
The deference accorded the magistrate is not without limits, for “[a] sworn statement of an affiant that ‘he has cause to suspect and does believe that’ liquor illegally brought into the United States is located on certain premises will not do” and “[a]n officer’s statement that ‘[a]ffiants have received reliable information from a credible person and believe’ that heroin is stored in a home, is likewise inadequate.” 462 U.S. at 239, 103 S.Ct. at 2332.
Sufficient information must be presented to the magistrate to allow that official to determine probable cause; his action cannot be a mere ratification of the bare conclusions of others. In order to ensure that such an abdication of the magistrate’s duty does not occur, courts must continue to conscientiously review the sufficiency of affidavits on which warrants are issued.
Id. However, “[e]ven if the warrant application was supported by more than a ‘bare bones’ affidavit, a reviewing court may properly conclude that, notwithstanding the deference that magistrates deserve, the warrant was invalid because the magistrate’s probable cause determination reflected an improper analysis of the totality of the circumstances.” United States v. Leon, — U.S.-, 104 S.Ct. 3405, 3417, 82 L.Ed.2d 677 (1984). See United States v. Loggins, 111 F.2d 336, 338 (6th Cir.1985); United States v. Stanert, 762 F.2d 775, 782 (9th Cir.1985), modified, 769 F.2d 1410 (9th Cir.1985); United States v. Settegast, 755 F.2d 1117, 1121 (5th Cir.1985); United States v. Marsh, 747 F.2d 7, 11 (1st Cir.1984).
The Fourth Amendment requires that there “be enough evidence reasonably to believe that evidence of illegal 'activity will be present at the specific time and place of the search.” United States v. Thomas, 757 F.2d 1359, 1367 (2d Cir.), cert. denied, — U.S.-, 106 S.Ct. 66, 67, 88 L.Ed.2d 54 (1985). “[T]he nexus between the place to be searched and the evidence sought may be established through normal inferences about the location of the evidence.” United States v. Gant, 759 F.2d 484, 488 (5th Cir.), cert. denied, — U.S.-, 106 S.Ct. 149, 88 L.Ed.2d 123 (1985). Further, “[i]n reviewing the validity of a search warrant, a court is limited to the information and circumstances contained within the four corners of the underlying affidavit.” Stanert, 762 F.2d at 778.
In this case, the affidavit read in full: On the 20th day of August, 1984, at approximately 5:00 p.m., affiant received information from a reliable informant that Eric Helton was producing marijuana at his residence.
On August 21, 1984 at 11:30 a.m. Detective William Stewart observed a marijuana plant growing beside the residence of Eric Helton.
The district court rejected Helton’s challenge to the sufficiency of the affidavit.
Here the information received from the informant ... was not as precise as it should have been both in regard to the time when Helton was producing marijuana and as to being more specific to support thé reliability of the informant. However, such information was corroborated and verified by the independent investigation of Detective Stewart. The investigation disclosed that the informant’s information was accurate and reliable and that Helton was in fact at the *655time of the date of affidavit producing marijuana at his residence.
The court concluded that “on the face of the affidavit the magistrate could reasonably find that there was probable cause to search the Helton premises including the inside of the residence with the ‘fair probability’ that contraband would be found by the search.” On appeal, appellant contends that (1) there was no indication of the timeliness of the informant’s information, (2) there was no probable cause to search inside the home, and (3) the affidavit failed to indicate why the informant was reliable.
This court has clearly stated that “probable cause existing at some time in the past will not suffice for the issuance of a search warrant.” United States v. Rosenbarger, 536 F.2d 715, 719 (6th Cir.1976), cert. denied, 431 U.S. 965, 97 S.Ct. 2920, 53 L.Ed.2d 1060 (1977). See Sgro v. United States, 287 U.S. 206, 210, 53 S.Ct. 138, 140, 77 L.Ed. 260 (1932) (“it is manifest that the proof must be of facts so closely related to the time of the issue of the warrant as to justify a finding of probable cause at that time.”) The affidavit in this case fails to indicate when the informant learned of Helton’s alleged production or when such production had or was taking place. While the affidavit’s failure to indicate the time frame within which the tip is applicable may not alone preclude a finding of probable cause, when considered in the totality of the circumstances with the affidavit’s other infirmities, the absence of a time element detracts from the magistrate’s probable cause conclusion.
We have recently reaffirmed that “the privacy of the home ‘deserve[s] the most scrupulous protection from governmental invasion.’ ” United States v. Morgan, 743 F.2d 1158, 1168 (6th Cir.1984), cert. denied, — U.S. -, 105 S.Ct. 2126, 85 L.Ed.2d 490 (1985), quoting United States v. Oliver, 466 U.S. 170, 104 S.Ct. 1735, 1741, 80 L.Ed.2d 214 (1984). The affidavit in issue is incredibly vague with respect to where the police reasonably expected to find the alleged evidence in the case. The affidavit indicates that Helton was “producing” “at his residence.” The affidavit fails to indicate what “producing” or “at his residence” means. The tip does not indicate that Helton was growing marijuana in his basement, house, or yard. The tip provides no details nor the basis for the tipster’s knowledge of the alleged production. The vague and broad nature of the tip, as related in the affidavit, provides no reasonable basis to believe that particular evidence is in any particular place.
The majority, while noting that “[t]he informant’s tip alone would not have been sufficient,” concludes that “the investigation of the tip did corroborate what Detective Campbell had been told. The informant’s reliability had been established in an earlier case and Stewart’s observations verified the apparent accuracy of the information concerning Helton.” First, I note that “what Detective Campbell had been told” seems irrelevant since we evaluate the sufficiency of the affidavit at face value. Second, the affidavit fails to indicate how the informant’s reliability had been established. Third, the tip is so vague, that it is meaningless to speak of the tip having been corroborated by Stewart’s observation. Even if one might describe the tip as corroborated, the tip does not clearly indicate that marijuana was being produced in Helton’s home, and, therefore, does not provide probable cause for a search of the house.
Finally, the affidavit gives no indication whatsoever regarding why the affiant deemed the informant in question reliable. The affidavit in this case is unlike those described in Gates in which a deficiency in evidence of reliability is cured by evidence regarding the basis of the informant’s knowledge.
The tips furnished “nothing more than a conclusion that the defendant[s] had engaged in criminal conduct.” ... They wholly lack evidence either of the basis of the informant’s knowledge or of the reliability of the informants, and, therefore, fall far short of the basis required by Gates. The tips must, therefore, be excised from the warrant, and the re*656maining allegations must stand alone to support the probable cause determination.
Settegast, 755 F.2d at 1121 n. 5. In the absence of the informant’s “tip,” it is clear that probable cause existed, on the basis of Stewart’s observation, only to search around the house, rather than inside. Accordingly, the search of the house pursuant to a warrant not supported by probable cause violated the Fourth Amendment.
II.
The government argues, alternatively, that even if the evidence in question was obtained in violation of the Fourth Amendment, exclusion is not an appropriate remedy. The district court agreed, concluding that “[t]here is nothing in the record to indicate that the officers made any misrepresentations to the magistrate in reference to the affidavit or its contents.”3
In Leon, the Court held that exclusion is inappropriate where an officer acts in objective good faith. Id. at 3420. “[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 ... and it is clear that in some circumstances the officer will have no reasonable grounds for believing that the warrant was properly issued.” Id. at 3421 (footnotes omitted). “[Ojur good-faith inquiry is confined to the objectively ascertainable question whether a reasonably well-trained officer would have known that the search was illegal despite the magistrate’s authorization.” Id. at n. 23. “The objective standard we adopt, moreover, requires officers to have a reasonable knowledge of what the law prohibits.” Id. at 3420 n. 20. The Court held, more specifically, that an officer does not act in good faith by relying on an affidavit “ ‘so lacking in indicia of probable cause as to render official belief in its existence entirely unreasonable.’ ” Id. at 3422, quoting Brown v. Illinois, 422 U.S. 590, 611, 95 S.Ct. 2254, 2265, 45 L.Ed.2d 416 (1975) (Powell, J., concurring in part). In evaluating objective good faith, we consider “not only how well-established is the general legal principle involved but also how precisely the facts coincide with the cases applying that principle.” United States v. Savoca, 761 F.2d 292, 298 n. 12 (6th Cir. 1985).4 The burden of proof on objective good faith rests on the government. Gant, 759 F.2d at 487; United States v. Hendricks, 743 F.2d 653, 656 (9th Cir.1984), cert. denied, — U.S.-, 105 S.Ct. 1362, 84 L.Ed.2d 382 (1985)-. See Leon, 104 S.Ct. at 3422.
Gates and the cases cited therein establish that vague, conclusory, uncorroborated, and unreliable anonymous tips simply cannot establish probable cause.' A reasonably well-trained officer should have known that there was no probable cause to search inside the house. Therefore, the evidence gathered from such search should be excluded. ,
For the aforementioned reasons, the judgment of the district court should be reversed.

. See also United States v. Nabors, 761 F.2d 465, 468 (8th Cir.), cert. denied, — U.S. -, 106 S.Ct. 148, 88 L.Ed.2d 123 (1985); United States v. Adamo, 742 F.2d 927, 947 (6th Cir.1984), cert. denied, -U.S.-, 105 S.Ct. 971, 83 L.Ed.2d 975 (1985).

. See also Katz v. United States, 389 U.S. 347, 351, 88 S.Ct. 507, 511, 19 L.Ed.2d 576 (1967); Hester v. United States, 265 U.S. 57, 59, 44 S.Ct. 445, 446, 68 L.Ed. 898 (1924); Boyd v. United States, 116 U.S. 616, 630, 6 S.Ct. 524, 532, 29 L.Ed. 746 (1886); United States v. Roberts, 747 F.2d 537, 541-42 (9th Cir.1984); United States v. Hoskins, 735 F.2d 1006 (6th Cir.1984); United States v. Reed, 733 F.2d 492, 501 (8th Cir.1984); United States v. Jackson, 585 F.2d 653, 659-60 (4th Cir.1978); United States ex rel. Saiken v. Bensinger, 546 F.2d 1292 (7th Cir.1976), cert. denied, 431 U.S. 930, 97 S.Ct. 2633, 53 L.Ed.2d 245 (1977); United States v. Stroble, 431 F.2d 1273, 1276 (6th Cir.1970); Wattenburg v. United States, 388 F.2d 853, 857 (9th Cir.1968); United States v. Potts, 297 F.2d 68, 69 (6th Cir.1961); Care v. United States, 231 F.2d 22, 25 (10th Cir.), cert. denied, 351 U.S. 932, 76 S.Ct. 788, 100 L.Ed. 1461 (1956).

. The Court had made clear that the question of whether the Fourth Amendment was violated and whether exclusion is an appropriate remedy are separate questions. Leon, 104 S.Ct. at 3412; Strand, 761 F.2d at 455. Likewise, the Court has held that the sequence of the inquiries depends on "the exigencies of particular cases” and is entrusted to the court’s discretion. Leon, 104 S.Ct. at 3422-23.

. That the officer may have convinced the magistrate, district judge, or members of the appellate panel that probable cause existed to support the warrant does not establish the officer’s objective good faith. But see Leon, 104 S.Ct. at 3423. Such an analysis would give the magistrate the last word on the exclusion question.