Court Opinion

ID: 9567408
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-21 19:53:36.314237+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T10:00:35.818468
License: Public Domain

ERICKSON, Justice,
dissenting in part and concurring in part:
I join Justice Quinn’s dissent from the majority opinion because I agree that, under the circumstances of this case, the war-rantless entry into the defendant’s home cannot be justified under the exigent circumstances exception to the warrant requirement.
I concur in that part of the majority opinion which upholds the sufficiency of the core of the affidavit to establish probable cause for the issuance of a search warrant. In my view, however, it is necessary to set forth precisely how probable cause was established to justify the issuance of the search warrant.
The police investigation which ultimately led to the affidavit for the search warrant was partially based upon the information provided to the police by an unidentified citizen, whose reliability was not established, approximately three months before the search was executed. The citizen advised the police that Bustam, who was living at 800 Pearl Street, apartment 911, in Denver, Colorado, was the recipient of an unusual amount of foot traffic at all hours of the day and night. The affidavit also stated that the visitors to the apartment only stay a short time and are either dropped off or park some distance away and walk up to the apartment building. In addition, the citizen advised the police that Bustam made frequent trips to Miami, Florida, had no visible means of support, and that Bustam’s apartment was “of an expensive and exclusive nature.” On the basis of this information, the police officer equated Bustam’s activities to that of a person dealing in controlled substances.
In my view, the information received from the citizen was insufficient to provide probable cause for the issuance of a search *975warrant for drug-related items. Compare Reid v. Georgia, 448 U.S. 438, 100 S.Ct. 2752, 65 L.Ed.2d 890 (1980). A valid search warrant must be executed at a time when there is probable cause to believe that the items to be seized may be found in a particular place. See, e.g., People v. Stoppel, Colo., 637 P.2d 384 (1981); People v. Bauer, 191 Colo. 331, 552 P.2d 512 (1976); People v. Padilla, 182 Colo. 101, 511 P.2d 480 (1973). Information received from an unidentified citizen approximately three months before the search of the defendant’s apartment was therefore stale and could not provide probable cause to obtain a search warrant. Moreover, the unidentified citizen providing the information could not satisfy in any way the traditional test for informant credibility or reliability of the information. See Aguilar v. Texas, 378 U.S. 108, 84 S.Ct. 1509, 12 L.Ed.2d 723 (1964); Spinelli v. United States, 393 U.S. 410, 89 S.Ct. 584, 21 L.Ed.2d 637 (1969). See also People v. Stoppel, supra; People v. Baird, 182 Colo. 284, 512 P.2d 629 (1973); People v. Brethaur, 174 Colo. 29, 482 P.2d 369 (1971). The information received from the unidentified citizen provided the police with no more than skeletal information, and the police acknowledged that the information was of untested reliability.
The affidavit also stated that the police received information from a previously reliable confidential informant within the previous 24 hours stating that Leingang would be going to the area of 8th Avenue and Washington Street in Denver for the purpose of purchasing a quantity of cocaine. Although the informant provided a description of Leingang, the vague description of his destination was insufficient to establish probable cause. In my view, the affidavit did not allege facts from which the issuing judge could independently determine that there were reasonable grounds to believe that illegal activity was being carried on in the place to be searched. See Aguilar v. Texas, supra; Spinelli v. United States, supra; People v. Stoppel, supra; People v. Peschong, 181 Colo. 29, 506 P.2d 1232 (1973).
I believe that probable cause for the issuance of the search warrant was not established until the police arrested Leingang and discovered cocaine in his possession after they had observed him enter the defendant’s apartment. Only by connecting the facts of the encounter with Leingang to the information previously provided by the informant and the unidentified citizen did the suspicions of the police rise to probable cause to obtain a search warrant.
Justice DUBOFSKY and Justice QUINN authorize me to say that they join in this dissent and concurrence.