Court Opinion

ID: 9668957
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-24 02:33:58.956673+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T08:50:28.035548
License: Public Domain

OPINION ON REHEARING
The State has filed a motion for rehearing in which it contends this Court concluded that the affidavit supporting the search warrant contained an anonymous tip. According to the State, the magistrate could infer from the affidavit that it was based on more than a mere anonymous tip. Because the probable cause section of the affidavit states that “[t]he reliable source advised that he/she has known the above party for a number of years ....,” the' State asserts the magistrate could reasonably infer that the “rehable source” was a family member or friend, not an anonymous source.
Even if the issuing magistrate could reasonably infer that the source was a family member or friend based on such source having “known [Elardo] for a number of years,” there are insufficient facts for the private citizen exception to apply. Assuming the issuing magistrate could have reasonably inferred that the source was a family member or friend, the source could still have been anonymous. The affidavit does not allege how the source asserted he or she had known “the above party.” An anonymous informant could have asserted that he or she had known the suspect for a number of years without revealing the informant’s identity to the officer. An anonymous report, even if made by a private citizen, is not sufficient to satisfy the private citizen exception.14 *772The mere fact that the information came from a private citizen is not sufficient. Without the identity of the source or more facts concerning the source, the issuing magistrate could not determine whether the source had prior contact with the police or whether the source could be prosecuted for making a fabricated report. See State v. Wester, 109 S.W.3d 824, 826-27 (Tex.App.-Dallas 2003, no pet.); see also Illinois v. Gates, 462 U.S. 213, 233-34, 103 S.Ct. 2317, 76 L.Ed.2d 527 (1983). The statement does not reveal sufficient facts concerning the source for the private citizen exception to apply. Even assuming the issuing magistrate could reasonably infer the source was a family member or friend, the private citizen exception does not apply.
In its motion, the State cites Johnson v. State, 803 S.W.2d 272 (Tex.Crim.App.1990), in support of its argument.15 We believe Johnson is distinguishable. The affidavit in Johnson contained a total of ten alleged facts giving rise to probable cause. Id. at 288. Many of the facts the issuing magistrate could reasonably infer were obtained by police officers in the course of their investigation. These allegations included that fingerprints found at the scene matched the suspect’s fingerprints. Id. The affidavit contained several sources and other indicia of reliability .supporting .a finding of probable cause under the totality of the circumstances. In our case, the sole alleged source was the uncorroborated statement of an unknown source of unknown reliability.
Because there is no evidence concerning whether the. source had prior contact with the police or whether the source could be held liable for fabrication of the report, the private citizen exception does not apply even if the issuing magistrate could have reasonably inferred that the source was a family member or friend. Because the affidavit contains insufficient statements concerning the reliability of the source or other indicia of reliability, the issuing magistrate did not have a substantial basis to conclude probable cause existed.
We overrule the State’s motion for rehearing.

. This Court is aware that the tip was not actually an anonymous tip. As we stated in our original opinion, “the police officer had knowledge sufficient to constitute probable cause.” However, the affidavit in support of the search warrant failed to include sufficient *772information. When the probable cause affidavit fails to identify a source in any way, the source is roughly equivalent to an anonymous source.

. Johnson was overruled by Heitman v. State, 815 S.W.2d 681, 690 (Tex.Crim.App.1991), to the extent it conflicted with Heit-man's holding that the Texas courts would not be bound by United States Supreme Court decisions concerning the search and seizure arguments based on the Texas Constitution.